This Reese’s cake is a moist chocolate cake filled with an insane amount of peanut butter frosting and topped with heaps of Reese’s peanut butter cups!
After you’ve gone crazy for this Reese’s cake, try my ridiculous chocolate cake and cookies and cream cake next.
This Reese’s cake is over the top. It’s a ridiculously fudgy chocolate cake filled with a super-thick layer of peanut butter frosting, smothered with chocolate frosting, and topped with heaps of peanut butter cups. The only thing I could think of as I drizzled melted chocolate over the finished cake was: this is insane!
Reasons to Love This Insane Reese’s Cake
- It tastes like a giant Reese’s cup! It might not be for the faint of heart, but this Reese’s cake is definitely for the chocolate and peanut butter lover in your life. Rich, fudgy, chocolatey, peanut butter-y… All the Reese’s flavors, wrapped up in a WILD chocolate cake.
- Packed with peanut butter cups. I top this cake with chopped peanut butter cups and melted chocolate. Not only does it up the “insane” factor but it also does wonders for an imperfect frosting job.
- Easy to make. The fudgy chocolate cake is a classic, easy recipe, as is the chocolate frosting. It’s my favorite cake and frosting combination, and I use it ALL the time. I even include it in my book.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Don’t let the insanity deter you. This Reese’s cake starts with my easy chocolate layer cake recipe, which is super simple and uses only common pantry ingredients. I’ve included some notes below. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable recipe with the full ingredient amounts and recipe details.
- Dry ingredients – All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Cocoa Powder – I recommend unsweetened natural cocoa powder.
- Eggs and Milk – Bring these to room temperature.
- Oil – Choose a neutral-flavored vegetable oil or canola oil.
- Vanilla Extract – You could also use an equal amount of vanilla paste.
- Butter – At room temperature.
- Peanut Butter – You’ll want to use shelf-stable, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Crunchy peanut butter would add extra texture. Avoid natural peanut butter that needs stirring, as the oils tend to separate and make the filling greasy.
- Powdered Sugar – Also called confectioner’s sugar.
- Milk – Whole milk, 2% milk, or any kind you’d like.
- Chocolate Frosting – I include the recipe for my easy chocolate frosting made from room-temperature butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla with warm water.
- Peanut Butter Cups – Chopped up, for garnish.
- Chocolate Chips – To melt with milk for the chocolate ganache drizzle. I use mini chocolate chips as they melt faster, but regular chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars will also work.
How to Make This Reese’s Cake
First, we’ll bake our moist chocolate cake layers, then, we’ll load them up with peanut butter frosting (my version of the center of a peanut butter cup) and chocolate frosting. Follow the steps below and scroll down to the recipe card for the printable instructions.
- Line the pans. While the oven preheats to 350ºF, grease and line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Next, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients. Slowly add in the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix the batter for 2 minutes. Scrape down the down the bowl as you go. After, turn the mixer down to low again and add the hot water, mixing to combine.
- Bake the cakes. Now, divide the chocolate cake batter between the two prepared pans. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the peanut butter frosting. Start by creaming the butter and peanut butter together, then slowly add the powdered sugar. Then, slowly mix in ¼ cup of milk until the filling is smooth.
- Fill the cake. Place the first cake layer onto a plate or cake stand. Using an offset spatula, spread the peanut butter filling generously over the cake. Afterward, place the second cake layer on top of the filling.
Frosting and Decorating the Cake
Once your chocolate and peanut butter Reese’s cake is assembled, it’s time to go all out with garnishes:
- Frost the cake. Mix the frosting ingredients with warm water in a bowl. Once the frosting comes together, increase the speed and beat for 2 minutes. Let the finished frosting cool for 15 minutes, and then spread it over the top and sides of the cake.
- Decorate. Top the frosted cake with chopped peanut butter cups and make a “skirt” of chocolate chips around the bottom edge of the cake.
- Add chocolate ganache. Meanwhile, melt ¼ cup of chocolate with 1 ½ cups of milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in increments, stirring in between, until smooth and melted. Afterward, transfer the melted chocolate to a small Ziploc baggie with the corner snipped off, and pipe the chocolate all over the decorated cake.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Measure the ingredients correctly. Make sure to weigh ingredients like flour using a kitchen scale or measure using the spoon and sweep method to avoid overmeasuring. Spoon the flour from the bag into the measuring cup (don’t scoop straight from the bag) and then level off the cup with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter. Overmixing leads to a dense, tough cake, so only mix until the cake batter is just combined.
- Use brewed coffee instead of hot water. Coffee enhances the chocolate flavors in baked goods, without tasting like coffee. So, for extra fudginess, use hot coffee in place of water in the cake (and frosting).
- Add caramel sauce. For another layer of indulgence, why not throw over a drizzle of caramel sauce while you’re drizzling the chocolate?
How to Store
- At room temperature. You can store this insane Reese’s cake covered airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for 5-7 days. A cake carrier comes in handy for storing layer cakes.
- Freeze. I don’t recommend freezing the finished cake, however, you can bake the cake layers ahead of time and freeze them before adding the frosting and filling. Wrap the baked, cooled cakes tightly in plastic wrap and store them frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw the layers at room temperature before filling and frosting them.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
Insane Reese’s Cake
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Reese’s cake is a moist chocolate cake filled with an insane amount of peanut butter frosting and decorated with heaps of peanut butter cups and chocolate!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup very warm water
For the Peanut Butter Filling
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup milk
For the Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup very warm water
Garnish
- 10–12 full-sized peanut butter cups chopped
- 2 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2, 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Cut 2, 9-inch rounds of parchment paper and place in the bottoms of the pans. Spray again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined.
- With the mixer still on low, add in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Turn mixer up to medium and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn the mixer back down to low and slowly add in the hot water. Mix for an additional minutes until combined.
- Divide the batter between the 2 prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Peanut Butter Filling
- In the clean bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Turn the mixer to medium and mix for 1 minute until combined.
- Turn the mixer back to low and add 1/4 cup milk. Mix for an additional minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until creamy and combined. If desired, add additional milk to achieve desired result.
- Transfer one of the cooled cakes to a plate or cake stand. Spread the peanut butter filling on top of the cake. Place the other cake on top of the peanut butter filling.
Make the Chocolate Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, and warm water and mix on low speed, until the mixture just comes together.
- Slowly increase the speed to medium and beat the frosting for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Let the frosting cool for 15 minutes before covering the cake.
To Garnish
- Once you have the cake covered in the chocolate frosting, pile the chopped peanut butter cups on top. Next, sprinkle 2 cups of milk chocolate chips on top and around the bottom of the cake.
- Place the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 15-second increments, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is smooth. Place the melted chocolate into a small zip-top bag and snip the corner off. Drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cake.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 971
- Sugar: 120.7 g
- Sodium: 632 mg
- Fat: 44.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 143.7 g
- Protein: 14.3 g
- Cholesterol: 24.5 mg
Only chocolate cake I will make. Tweaked it slightly..use dark cocoa and use hot coffee in place of the water. It is super moist and AMAZING
Love hearing that!
I have made this cake several times, but most recently made it for a wedding shower. The bride loves peanut butter and chocolate so I thought this would be the perfect dessert. To say it was a hit would be an understatement. Several guests stated it was the best cake they have ever tasted. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart (or sweetness), but if you want a special occasion cake, this one is a great choice.
This turned out to be quite the tragedy unfortunately. I was excited because the recipe seemed simple and with easy steps. I have done a lot of baking so I was a little concerned about the quantity of powdered sugar but I decided to give it a go for my friend’s birthday party. The cake was so wet that even after a night of being out before stacking on the 2nd layer, it still split open. The cake batter seemed way too liquidy to start so I should have added more flour. Both frostings and the cake are extremely sweet for my taste. I wouldn’t give this a good rating but I see others have had good success with it from the reviews.
Best chocolate cake I’ve ever made! Unbelievably moist and flavorful.
So glad you enjoyed!!
I made this for my daughter’s birthday this weekend. She is gluten sensitive so I made it with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. With all the yummy ingredients NO ONE at the party could tell it was gluten free! It was truly “insanely” decadent and delicious. I am not an experienced baker and the instructions were simple and clearly explained. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Thank you for this incredible recipe. I made it in July 2017 first time by request for a friend’s birthday.
Today I’m making it again by request from my daughter in law as she and my son are visiting me from Chicago for a couple of days.
I made notes on the recipe that it was a smashing success at the dinner party and one of my proudest cakes.
Over the top in richness, sweetness and intense. BUT ISN’T THAT THE POINT? Besides, nothing is better than peanut butter and chocolate. Celebrating one’s birthday or a special visit are reasons to go over the top.
So glad you enjoyed this cake! It’s definitely special!