Saturday 2 June 2012

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Well, another Birthday promise I made months ago, what was I thinking, right?  My oldest turned 13 this year, like I have mentioned before and one day while filling my Pinterest habit I came across and Peanut Butter Cup Cake.  It is just a wee bit of an addiction in our household, those yummy peanut butter cup type thingies.  Reese's is a huge fave with my entire family, any size will do really, the 'Big Cup' is my #1, just in case you were wondering.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn down any Reese's, even those tiny mini ones :)  mmmmm.  OK, I'm losing track of my thought here.  So, searching Pinterest one day we find a cake, $75 and they ship, but $75 is still a little steep even for a favourite of mine.  I'm in Canada and would probably cost a fortune and they probably wouldn't ship to me, and I would never order a cake anyway, so that thought was dismissed quickly.  hmmmm how to make one myself.....I thought, and thought and thought, a couple of months actually, and the day finally arrived and I was only partly prepared.  I hadn't come up with a way to have the chocolate rippled on the outer part of the cake.  I had looked for something to make the edging, but nodda, zilcho, zip....The morning of the cake making I woke with a startle, and broke the light bulb above my head when I shot upwards in bed.  I got it, we had a CD holder from Ikea around here somewhere that was no longer in use, now where was it.  It was rubbery and had notches in it, and should work.....I think.  Found it, K, so it wasn't quite the way I had imagined (wishful thinking I think) but I could make it work.  Now onto the master piece.
Now keep in mind, when creating this wonderful bit of yumminess, one should not be in a hurry, should not have to pick up kids, drive kids, or help others during this process.  Just a suggestion is all.  I had a blond moment in my process as well, I am not afraid to admit to, and will get to that later on.  Here I go;
I started out by folding double layers of wax paper accordion style.
Then placed the wax paper into the notches on my CD holder.  You can see what I mean, not exactly what I imagined, they are square notches not V notches but thought if I used wax paper and folded it, it could do the trick.  I put a butter knife on top of the wax paper to hold it down, otherwise it would pop up before the chocolate was poured in.
I melted some good quality chocolate (Callebaut) in the microwave, and poured in down the centre.  It was melted enough to pour out, but not runny as to leak  toward the edges.  I spread it out with my spatula and let it cool.

About now I am getting busy at home.  I begin making the cake only to realize I don't have enough flour, grrrr.  So, I hop in the shower, because I have a funeral to go to and, well, I should shower of course.  I was going to shower while the cake baked, but, noooo, I guess not now.  So I put out all my ingredients I am going to need, other than the dang flour of course.  (I may have said more than dang at the time) (I'm pretty certain I said more than dang)  OK enough of that....I needed;
1/2 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla (or so, I never measure)
2 eggs
1/2 - 3/4 cup of smooth peanut butter
1 & 1/2 cups of flour (um, when I get more)
1/2 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 cup of milk (or so, I judge my batter, 1/2 cup for sure, maybe a splash more)
Let's just say I had the flour, I would begin beating the first 5 ingredients, one at a time, until nice and smooth, then add the flour slowly and the baking powder, then add the milk until the right consistency.
I was only making one 9" round cake pan, so that's why only these ingredients.  This is a filling cake and it is a bit on the rich side.  That's why only one cake pan.  I cut out a round of parchment paper for the bottom of my round pan and greased it, as well as the sides of the pan, poured the batter in, spread it out, tapped the pan on the counter to expel any unwanted air bubbles, and baked at 350 degrees for about a half an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Let cool completely.  Slice in half so as to have two layers, made out of only one cake.
I did not take pictures of this part, or the next part as this is when things were a bit hairy in my household.
Peanut Butter filling;
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2ish tablespoons of softened butter (sorry again, no measuring)
1/2 cup of icing sugar
1/4 cup(ish) of honey
mix well, until smooth, and this is what I put between the cut layers of cake.
I put one layer on the bottom of my cake plate, put my peanut butter filling down, placed the top cake layer on, and now the building process can begin.  And my family starts tugging at me in all directions.  Ugh....
So I removed my melted chocolate, notched CD holder from the fridge to let it warm up a bit, and it is looking perfect I must say.  As it reaches the temperature and softness I want, I decide it's time to cut it and get ready to 'glue it" around the edge.  I butter the outside edge of the cake round, and proceed to cut the chocolate down the centre as that looks to be a good size and will have two pieces to join together only.  So I get my big sharp Henkel knife and begin to cut slowly, really slowly as to not crack the most precious chocolate.  I get nothing, um it's not cutting, what? I press again, and then I put the tip of my knife in the chocolate and again not cutting, I push harder, and the chocolate begins to crack along the ridges....Have you guessed yet, I'm having a blond moment, and forgot to lift the wax paper out of my CD holder mold thingy.  Yeppers, way to go Sharon.  So now I have chocolate fingers, OK I can still make this work, *big sigh* Again, what was I thinking??  So now like a brick layer, I buttered the backs of the chocolate fingers and place them around the edge of the cake, looking good, all is going well, I realize that I should have chocolate icing as my mortar, since I am doing this piece by piece, and little bit of the white icing is showing, but oh well, can't go back now.  After the edging is complete, and looking kinda cool, I melt more chocolate for the top of the Peanut Butter Cup Cake.  Melted perfectly, I pour it on top and using my offset spatula I spread it around.  Now during all of this chocolate process my two youngest are at my sides, asking me questions, wanting a piece of the chocolate fingers, or any chocolate really, can I blame them, hello, it is chocolate :)  Can they lick the bowl, how about the knife, the spatula, please Mom just a little.....Done, the cake is done, in the fridge it goes. Whew, now hope it tastes good!!!
You can see some of the white icing peeking thru my chocolate fingers around the edge, and some of my chocolate fingers are not the same height, but at that point I just wanted the cake done.  My chocolate on top is still freshly melted in the pic, and hasn't cooled and hardened yet, that's why the colour difference from the edging.  If I hadn't had my blond moment and other factors causing me some grief, this cake really was easy to make.  And, it tastes good too, whew, relief.  My daughter's friends were impressed, and I was just so dang happy it was done, and it was edible.  Some helpful hints;  I should have made more of a ganache for the topping, that would have made it not quite so solid, although when you bite into a Reese's cup, the chocolate cracks and that's what I like.  My chocolate edging is rather thick, and I will still continue my search for something better to use for those ridges, cuz I think I would like to make this cake again....improve on it a little, now that I have one under my belt. and have learned a few things.  I would not spend $75 to order this cake, although I would spend maybe $30?  The good quality chocolate makes a difference.
I may have had a bite out of this piece before I thought to take a picture of it, oops, but you can see how it turned out.  the colour is pretty true in the pic, the peanut butter filling layer is almost like a Reese's Cup filling, mmmm and the cake has just a hint of peanut butter flavour, the chocolate it smooth, and a tad think in spots but oooo so deelish.  Hope I inspired you to take on this cake.  Honestly, it is quite simple, and you don't have to fuss over the ridges, you can have a smooth edge, use ganache and cover it all, let it run over the sides and cover the entire thing.  Done, and you have your own take on a most yummy Peanut Butter Cup Cake.
Now I'm hanging up my measuring cups for a while I think, gotta put a dent in my fabric pile.  I have a certain daughter with a passion for purple that needs a duvet cover....
Hope everyone is staying dry out there, no other flooding, we have recovered rather easily, others not so easily, and prayers to them all, hope for no other disasters happening, stay safe my friends, have fun, and see you soon.

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