Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cake with Salted Vanilla Buttercream
Jacklin Altman
Chocolate peanut butter cake meets sweet and salty frosting for a cake that's as rich and delicious as it is beautiful. The recipe below is for ONE 9" cake round, which I cut in half, stack, and frost to create a half cake. If you're looking to make a full 9" cake, double everything below, including the frosting!
Chocolate chips and crushed peanuts for toppingoptional
Frosting:
1/4cupbuttersoftened to room temperature
2cupspowdered sugar
1/2tspvanilla
1/2tspof saltdepending on your preference
1tbspmilk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F
In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and brown sugar, whisking together to combine
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, peanut butter, vanilla, and milk
Create a well in your dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and stir to combine until you have a smooth batter
Melt chocolate chips in a medium microwave safe bowl (microwave in increments of 30 seconds). Let cool for a few seconds, and then mix half of the batter with the melted chocolate in a separate bowl to create the chocolate peanut butter batter.
Grease a 9" cake pan(s), and put 2 tbsp of peanut butter batter in the center. Then, pour 2 tbsp chocolate batter in the center of the peanut butter batter. Continue to alternate, pouring batters into the center, forming a bullseye pattern
Bake for 30-35 min, until toothpick comes out clean and cake is lightly golden.
Allow cake to cool completely while you make your frosting. Combine butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl), then add vanilla and milk until you achieve desired consistency. Add salt, 1/4 tsp at a time, and tasting it as you go to ensure you end up with the right balance of salty and sweet.
After frosting your cooled cake, and top with peanuts and chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, letting it come to room temperature before serving.