Easter is my least favorite holiday each year. For all the reasons I won’t get into, none particularly interesting, I will amend my statement to say that Easter has the best candy holiday. And it’s my favorite Easter candy that is inspiring this peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting.
I buy Easter candy every year as soon as it comes out, and a lot of it. The dark chocolate Cadbury mini-eggs that I hoard and ration last me from just after Fat Tuesday through around the beginning of July. No joke. This cake, however, is inspired by Reese’s peanut butter eggs, my other favorite. My true favorite.
Admittedly the eggs used to be all the more special when they only came out once a year, rather than being copycatted by the pumpkins that come out for Halloween and the trees that come out for Christmas. Still, the eggs are the OG, and it’s to them that I pay homage today.
This cake is nothing special in assembly, and the parts I borrow from multiple sources.
The base peanut butter cake, stashed in my recipe binder (remember those pre-Pinterest?) from years and years ago.
The frosting, a combo of Ina’s and Joy’s to create a delicious whip, unique on its own.
The chocolate mirror glaze, totally not necessary, but perfect if you’re feeling extra, and want to give your cake the whole glossy egg effect. Also, I’ve been watching enough GBBO that I wanted to see if this mirror glaze truly was as easy as they all make it look. Good news- it is!
I’m going to leave that recipe out in the card below since Chef Ansel does a thorough job of explaining it in the link, and give you a good how-to make it perfect. Here are a few tips I learned from a class I took last year to make sure none of the cake is peeking through:
Give the cake at least three goes with the glaze. Set the cake atop a cooking rack over a rimmed baking sheet so that after the first pour, you can collect the fallen glaze back into your measuring cup to reuse. After the first coating, put the cake in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let the glaze set. Just before the next coat, bring the glaze back up to temperature, smooth it out with the immersion blender and repour. Repeat two more times for three coats total. Your cake will look marvelous! For me at least, the first coat didn’t cover everything enough. Plus, the more coats, the more the icing imperfections are covered.
If you’re not making the glaze- no sweat- this peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting comes together as cakes do. Cream, bake, cool, frost. Ready to go for Easter brunch. Or birthday. Or any darn occasion you fancy.
Unrelated, but a reminder that these are excellent treats for Easter baskets!
Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Decadent peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting topped with an easy chocolate mirror glaze is reminiscent of Easter peanut butter eggs!
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (JIF, preferred)
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- pinch salt
- For the frosting:
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (JIF, preferred)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup Ovaltine
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- Mirror glaze, optional
Directions
- Step 1 Make the cake:
- Step 2 Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and sugar a 6″ x 4″ round cake pan and line with parchment paper.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the peanut butter and incorporate thoroughly. Add the egg. Add the vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the remaining dry ingredients, alternating with the milk, and mix until just combined. Do not over mix!
- Step 4 Pour the prepared batter into the cake pan and bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Step 5 While the cake cools, make the frosting:
- Step 6 In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and Ovaltine until well combined, light and fluffy. Drizzle in the cooled chocolate and then slowly add the powdered sugar until all is mixed well the consistency is smooth.
- Step 7 Slice the cooled cake into three even layers. Add 1/4 of the frosting in between each layer, and use the remaining frosting to ice the outside of the cake. Chill before mirror glazing, if adding that step. If not, serve and enjoy!
