The perfect cake for any chocolate and peanut butter fan!
Last week was a very busy week in the ZoBird Kitchen. Besides making plenty of cakes for other people I made a delectable cake for me and Grant too, meaning I spent a majority of last week and the weekend in the kitchen baking my little heart out…madness I hear you cry…BLISS I hear me sigh! This cake was the last of the week and was made for my good friend Mr Rigby who has only been in our Create Dept since September but is already a well embedded member of the Create family…it’s also a huge bonus that he loves cake like me!
First we had …
Cake 1) Chris’s Birthday cake as requested by my mate Jen – the first Choc & Peanut Butter Frosted cake of the week…
then we had…
Cake 2) Chocolate cake for the Create Crew…with the leftovers of the choc cake and a combo of freezer icings!
then Friday night was spent making this creation…
Cake 3) Lucas Zia Brown’s Christening cake as requested by my mate Natalie…
then I excitedly made this on Saturday 1st Feb…
Cake 4) Coffee & Walnut Cake to celebrate ZoBird & Tiki G’s 12yr Anniversary!
and finally with the leftovers of the above cake before adding coffee I made…
Cake 4) Vanilla cupcakes with maple frosting for my tattooist Stotty
Phew…what a week! Finally I made another Chocolate & Peanut Butter Frosted cake after Jen, Chris and my mate Nic had proclaimed how delicious it was and replied with ‘OMG’ about the frosting in particular. The recipe is adapted from a Sainsbury’s magazine and is brill because it has no butter and is ultra quick to make. The frosting is nabbed from the trusty Betty Crocker website, hence the American cup measurements. I literally wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe for the frosting so it is merely halved from the one on her site.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 200g plain flour
- 4tbsp cocoa powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp of baking powder
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 free range eggs
- 150ml sunflower oil
- 150ml semi-skimmed milk
- 4tbsp golden syrup
- 1/2 cup Butter or Willow
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (Sunpat)
- 2cups icing sugar
- 1/8cup milk
- 1/4tsp vanilla extract
- 50g dark chocolate to melt
Method
- Prest your oven to 190degrees or 170degrees for fan assisted. Strangely this recipe doesn’t use a food mixer, I just used a hand mixer to make sure I didn’t over beat the mixture. Whatever is easiest for you is best
Sieve all the dry ingredients in to a large bowl, make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Now measure out the milk and oil and add slowly whilst beating together
Line two 20cm sandwich tins on the base and then distribute the mix between the two tins
I still had enough left for a third cake…you can either make a third one for a triple cake delight or place the rest in a tub and pop in the freezer for a later date :)
Pop in the middle of the oven for 30-40mins…basically they are done when an inserted skewer comes out clean
Leave until completely cold…meanwhile make the frosting…
BEWARE: This stuff is INSANELY GOOD! Beat the butter/willow until soft then add the peanut butter, gradually add the icing sugar and then the milk to bind…throw in your vanilla and leave to mix on high for about 5-10mins…this will give you super fluffy icing!!
Now melt 50g dark chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of hot water…stir until smooth
Distribute in to a disposable piping bag and draw out designs…these were obviously music based for Mr Rigby…leave to cool fully or pop in the fridge
Meanwhile start stacking up your cake…half the frosting and make sure you go right to the edges…push the cake down so it’s proper squidged together
Top with the rest of the frosting…if you have any left just pop it in a bag in the freezer and use at a later date for cakes or on top of ice cream :)
Top the cake with your choccy patterns and serve!
Now this cake is a real treat! It can serve 8 people very, VERY happily or be stretched a bit further. Not too sickly it is moist, squidgy and the peanut butter frosting is literally to die for!!!
It doesn’t take long to make and to be honest if you do anything this weekend MAKE THIS CAKE! You won’t regret it I promise you!
Happy Baking Baking Buddies
Love ZoBird xxx