Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake – a fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting…then I topped it with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate! This chocolate peanut butter cake recipe is so delicious, you’ll have your family begging for more!
The BEST Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Dessert Recipe
Today is not for the faint of heart…
If you’re not in it to win it with dessert, this might not be the one for you. If you’re one of those people who use the phrase, “too rich”, or “too sweet” the door is to the left. I’ll see you tomorrow.
BUT if you’re down for some C.A.K.E. let’s talk…
This one is pretty intense…the rich chocolate cake…the creamy peanut butter filling…the buttery chocolate frosting…can you handle it? It’s man against cake.
Not only is this cake over the top delicious, it’s also quite a stunner, if I do say so myself.
The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Cake With Chocolate Frosting
I feel like I should probably skip all the words right now and just get down to business.
I am sure you agree.
The cake is an EXTRA simple chocolate cake recipe. I have never had anything but fantastic results.
The filling is my version of the center of a peanut butter cup…
And the frosting is my tried and true chocolate frosting…the same recipe I use ALL the time. It’s in my book too!
And then why not top it off with some chopped peanut butter cups and melted chocolate? Not only does this up the “INSANE” factor, but it does wonders for an imperfect frosting job!
Then step back and take in the gorgeousness that you have just created…
And then eat it, of course!
This is THE perfect special occasion cake!
Enjoy!
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Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 16 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Insane Peanut Butter Cup Cake – a fudgy chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter filling and a rich chocolate frosting…then I topped it with tons of peanut butter cups and melted chocolate! This chocolate peanut butter cake recipe is so delicious, you’ll have your family begging for more!
Ingredients
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
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
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.
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 mixer back to low and add in 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.
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.
Garnish
- Once you have the cake covered in the chocolate frosting, pile the chopped peanut butter cups on top. Next, sprinkle 2 cup of the 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: 631.6 mg
- Fat: 44.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 143.5 g
- Protein: 14.3 g
- Cholesterol: 24.5 mg
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Just made the cake and it’s GORGEOUS!! Can’t wait to bring it to a party tonight! Thanks for the great recipe!
SO so glad you liked it!!
I had some of the same issues other people were having with the frosting being too runny. I followed the recipe exactly. I used 2/3 a cup of WARM water. I let cool. It was still too runny. So I added more powdered sugar and let it cool overnight. It is still too runny and now too sugary. Any suggestions on how to fix or avoid next time?
Have you ever used almond butter in place of peanut butter?
I haven’t, only because I am allergic to almonds. I think it would work well.
it’s a very good replacement if you don’t have allergy. if you can test it. it’s delicious.
So disappointing! Cannot get a good print. An advertisement appears over the filling and garnishment.
Did you use the print feature on the recipe itself or did you print the whole post?
Just finished making this confection. It turned out wonderfully. Will include
Image if I can. I think key is to use very warm water from the tap. I’m quite impressed with myself, and my small tastes were yummy. Only thing I did was add some expresso powder to the cake mix and chocolate icing. Happy Thanksgiving!
Tried this recipe today- every bit of this recipe was too runny. I’m an avid baker and followed the written recipe and checked in with the video with every step. The cake mix turned out, the filling was WAY too runny and did not turn out, no matter how much we did to salvage it. The frosting recipe was also too runny, asking for too much water I believe. None of it turned out and I was very disappointed. The recipe written here is very different than what Thisbe video and the picture is showing.
Hi Katie, I am sorry you had issues. The cake in the video, and in the pictures, is exactly as the recipe is written. If the peanut butter filling was a little runny for you, you could easily add some more powdered sugar. As for the frosting recipe, you do use warm water so it’s important to let it cool for a few minutes (as per the recipe) before spreading. For either the filling or the frosting, a little more powdered sugar could fix any issues with it being too runny. Thanks!
I am currently making this recipe and I am really wary. The cake batter is super liquidy and I followed every step exactly. It is currently cooking so I am just hoping to the baking gods it turns out. I’ll post a follow up 🙂
So good! I made this last week, it turned out so moist & yummy. I can’t stop eating it! Thanks for sharing!
Oh… how beautiful! I have never made it myself. This is a great tutorial for one. Perfect!
I have to ask…did you actually use all the frosting? I easily have 1 1/2 cups left and I was generous! Thanks for the recipe. Hope it tastes as great as it looks!
I did.. but I always go heavy on frosting. 🙂
I’m in on the cake. you have a way of making your cakes look so attractive. Weldone