chocolate fudge cake with peanut butter creme filling

 
 
 
 

Karen asked for cake for her birthday. This has never happened before because she doesn't like cake. I wouldn't say she hates it, just doesn't see the point. 

There's always a lack of understanding, common ground, on particular topics in a relationship. Ours is cake. We love pie. Diggin on the cupcakes. But two roads diverge on the issue of cake. I say yes. She says meh.

Except for one cake, that is. Remember our mention of the Chocolate Bar cookbook with the best brownies in. the. world. a while back? It also contains the best chocolate cake we've ever eaten. Fudge. It's like a cake of fudge. Not cakey at all. Dense, moist, giant-wet-crumb. And a deep chocolate butter frosting for the ages. The best part of it is that it gets better the longer it sits, if you can wait. 

Karen asked for cake because our son was disappointed that she didn't have a cake with candles on her actual birthday. She had pie. And we didn't do candles. Apparently, it is not acceptable to a 3-year-old to experience a birthday without a cake. Or candles. So Karen's eyes got dreamy when she said, "Make me the chocolate fudge cake. But with peanut butter. Somehow. Figure it out."

Slept on her challenge for a night. Then I had it. I'd take the most perfect chocolate cake in the world and shove it full of the filling from the most perfect peanut butter cookie sandwich in the world - the Bouchon nutter butters. This was a holy marriage of chocolate and peanut butter, fudge and an unbearable lightness of being. 

Safest bet I've ever made. Also, the best cake I've ever made. This cake is complete. It is perfected. All other chocolate fudge peanut butter cakes will fall short (sorry). It might not win any beauty contests, but I have no tolerance for pretty little things that aren't worth their calories. This cake is worth it.

Make this for someone you love, especially if you are that someone. You deserve it. Really.

recipe | chocolate fudge cake (via The Chocolate Bar cookbook) with peanut butter creme filling (via Bouchon Bakery)

For the cake

• 2 2/3 c all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 c packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 c unsweetened nonalkalized cocoa powder
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 c sour cream
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 c corn oil (I used canola. We survived.)
• 1 1/4 c. ice water

For the fudge frosting

• 6 oz unsweetened chocolate (if you don't like intense dark chocolate like our friend, Alyssa A., you might want to use semi- or bittersweet chocolate)
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 c confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 T vanilla extract

For the filling

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ c creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy
• 1 2/3 c confectioners' sugar

The cake

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder & soda, and salt. Whisk the ingredients together until well mixed. Smack the bowl on the backside and tell it how pretty it looks. Then feel ashamed.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until well blended. Don't say anything to them. 

Pull out the electric mixer and slap on the paddle attachment or beaters. On low speed, mix together the oil and butter. Beat in the water. See how cool it is? You've got solid fats now. That's the secret to the recipe. Turn off the mixer. Get excited.

Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low for 1 minute. Scrape down sides. Add the egg mixture and praise them. They're ready to accept it now. Blend it all together, maybe a minute. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Don't split the difference. Start with 50 and test to see if it comes out clean. Add a minute each time until you're happy.

Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then invert the cakes on the rack and remove the pans. Cool completely.

The fudge frosting

Melt your chocolate, either over a double boiler or 90 second on 70% in the microwave. Let it cool completely.

Clean your mixer bowl and paddle/beaters. Slap it back together and beat the butter on medium-high for 1 minute until it's creamy. Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and beat until well blended and light, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and drizzle in the chocolate. Bump up the speed to medium high and beat for 1 minute until glossy.

The peanut butter creme

Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and confectioners' sugar with the paddle attachment, probably 2 minutes.

Assemble

Slice off the domed tops of the cakes so they are flat. Place a layer on your serving plate. Add on the peanut butter creme. Smooth out without touching the sides (squishing it out the side is tasty but a little ungainly). Place on the second layer. Spread out the fudge frosting on the top and sides using an offset spatula. You're welcome.

Hint - this cake benefits from some refrigeration. It helps the entire enterprise of cake and peanut butter and fudge frosting stand up to the world united while melding the layers together. Maybe an hour. Not a lot. Or forget it and just dig into the cake. Perfect slices are for when you need to appear fancy. Get over it and eat.