Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

My angel baby turned 11 years old this week! And for her birthday, she requested a Reese’s cake!  Hhhmmm…. How could I pull off this cake? I had seen some photos of other peoples Reese’s cakes and I just didn’t like how tacky the Reese’s looked just shoved onto the outside of the cake.  I needed to class mine up a bit.  I added a ganache on top and chopped Reeese’s to the inside layer of frosting.  Ohhh yes, it’s rich, delicious and PERFECT for any peanut butter and chocolate lover!

JavaCupcake’s Super Moist Chocolate Cake
½ cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

1  ¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup Hershey’s Dark Chocolate cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease and flour 2 8-in round cake pans.
2. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix oil and sugars.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each.  Beat on high for 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
5. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together.
6. Sift them again.  Make sure all the flour and cocoa are thoroughly combined and all clumps are gone and the mixture is very fine.
7. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in three parts, adding half the milk between each addition.  Make sure to begin and end with the flour and to scrape the sides of the bowl.  Do not overmix.  Tip:  After flour has been mostly incorporated with the mixer, use a large spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl & mix.  You don’t want to work the flour too much, so hand mixing will help with that.
8. Add the boiling water and mix until just blended.  DO NOT BE ALARMED, mixture will be thin.
9. Pour half of each mixture into the each pan.
10. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes.  After 25 mins, reduce head to 325 degrees F, rotate pans 180 degrees and bake an additional 20-25 minutes.  Cake will be done when a toothpic comes out clean from the center of the cake.
11. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

JavaCupcake’s Peanut Butter Frosting
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 – 1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp salt

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (miniatures)

1. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the  butter and peanut butter.
2. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
3. One cup at a time, add the powdered sugar.  Between each addition, add the whipping cream.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and make sure to thoroughly mix after each addition.
4. Add the salt and mix until incorporated.
5. Add any additional milk, if necessary, to thin the frosting.
6. Mix on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Dark Chocolate Ganache
2 3.5oz bars of dark chocolate (60% cacao)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Make the ganache only when you’re ready to pour it over the cake.
2. In a medium bowl, break up the chocolate into small chunks.
3. In a small sauce pan, heat the cream until it just starts to boil.
4. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the bowl.
5. Mix the chocolate and cream together with a spatula until all the chocolate has melted.  Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all chocolate pieces melt into the ganache.

To Assemble the Cake:

1. Place one cake, round side down (flat bottom up) on a cake plate.  Frost the top (flat side) with about 1/4-1/2 inch of frosting.
2. Unwrap 8-10 Reece’s peanut butter cups and chop into small chunks.  Spread the chunks over the layer of frosting and press them down into the frosting.
3. Put the second cake, flat side down (round side up) on top of the frosting.  Now’s a good time to trim any extra cake off the sides if it’s a little uneven.
4. Crumb coat* the sides and top of the cake with the frosting and then put it in the freezer to set for at least 10-15 minutes.
5. After the crumb coat has set, use the remaining frosting to add a 1/2 inch layer on all sides and top of the cake.
6. Put it back in the freezer for 10 minutes to set.
7. Make the ganache while it’s in the freezer.
8. Take the cake out of the freezer,  pour the ganache on the top of the cake, in the center.
9. Immediately top cake with chopped Reese’s.
10. Let ganache firm before serving.

*Crumb coating is a very thin layer of icing that will “glue” any crumbs down. Adding this layer, then letting it harden in the freezer, will allow you to put on a thicker layer of frosting over it without any crumbs.