Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

I know and I am sorry for not updating my blog for a week now... not been BW either.. i was on the go last week with a few macs orders and petite fours plus with no camera on hand.. i wasnt in my best mood to share any new recipes... its true what ppl say sometimes.. once an SLR will always be an SLR hahaha - sila muntah kahkahkah

As salam to everyone.. hope all are in good health.. i am down with a little cough .. think its gonna stay for a while.. every single night i will be coughing away .. thank goodness that isnt the case during the day..

We took Sonia to watch Disney on Ice last friday and guess what she asked after we told her that we were gonna take her there?.. "Mama do we hv to take airplane to Disney on Ice?" hahaha.. she had a blast of cos and kept on talking abt it.. she recognizes every single princess there is and was ecstatic when she saw her fav Ariel..

Our weekend was rather quiet.. decided to stay home on saturday.. got ourself a new helper to come by since Lisa seems to hv disappeared in thin air together with something else from my cupboard... sigh .. on Sunday we took Sonia to a new park and continued on to an indoor playground.. we later took mom and dad out for dinner..

So ok enough rambling.. lets get on to this super duper yummy cake recipe bef i finish up my cup of cuppa.. i hv only two words to describe this cake (the same two words all other bakers use for this cake).. MIND BLOWING!! yes u heard me right.. this yummy cake consist of chocolate cake with cream cheese peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache to top it off.. u dont need a mixer for the cake recipe and its less "fattening" ahaks.. i didnt hv sour cream on hand and decided to sub it with a cup of double cream with 1 tbsp of lemon juice.. let it stand for 10 mins and voila.. u got urself sour cream wannabe hehe

I decided to follow her peanut butter frosting recipe to the T despite having reservation on the 5 cups of icing sugar .. which in the end was brilliant cos the frosting was just ohhh so so yummy and easy to handle.. i had wanted to leave it as it is cos it looks good on its own too..

After 2hrs in my fridge.. i took it out.. spread a nice dollop of ganache on top.. poured the rest in my piping bag and started to pipe 4 blobs vertically.. took my offset spatula and spread every blob to the right.. in one direction.. the only thing that u shud remember is that u hv to keep ur ganache in piping consistancy or u will be piping a runny blob.. clean ur spatula between every swipe and repeat the pattern until the whole cake is covered with "petals".

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process - valrhona
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil - i used corn oil
1 cup sour cream (didnt hv so i used 1 cup double cream + 1 tbsp lemon)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and prepare three 8-inch cake pans with butter and parchment

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Once the water is incorporated, add the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and continue to beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no flour bombs lurking in there. Divide the batter evenly among the 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. I was able to fit all three on one rack in the middle of my oven. If you can’t, just put two on the bottom 1/3 and one on the top 1/3 and rotate about 20 minutes into baking… but be careful or they might fall! - i baked it in two 7" cake pans for abt 55mins..

4. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. The cakes are very soft – chill the cooled cakes in the freezer for 30 minutes (or overnight if you don’t want to do it all in one day) before continuing. - i chilled it overnight!

5. To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cups of the peanut butter frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature - i used 250g

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups powdered sugar - sifted

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter - i used skippy reduced fat ha!!

Method

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended. Taste it…. you know, for quality control

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup half-and-half

Method

1. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.

Once the cake is fully frosted, it helps to chill it again and let it firm up. The cooler and more set the peanut butter frosting is, the better drip effect you’ll get from the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze.)

To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, put the cake plate on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. Simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

I did not use her chocolate peanut butter glazing recipe but instead used my typical ganache recipe and piped petal effect all around my cake..

Ganache

250g dark cooking chocolate - i used valrhona 55% and cocoa berry 66%

250g double cream

30g butter

You can check out this site on how to do the petal effect.. hv fun!

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Inspired by: Wee Eats