My husband doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. I know. It's shocking, especially considering that he's married to ME. That said, there are a few sweets that he will gladly accept. Of those his absolute favorites are chocolate peanut butter. As such, it was fitting to make a great big Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for his birthday (like I do every year). 🙂
This beauty is three layers of moist, decadent chocolate peanut butter cake frosted with peanut butter Swiss meringue buttercream, then topped with dark chocolate ganache. A chocolate/peanut butter lover's dream! My husband approved. 😀
Both the cake and the buttercream get their peanut butter flavor from peanut butter powder. This handy ingredient has all the peanut butter flavor without all the fat and heaviness of actual peanut butter. If you can't find it in your local grocery store, you can find it [here].
The cake's flavor is just out of this world! In addition to the cocoa and the peanut butter powder, the cake is flavored with vanilla extract, chocolate extract, and coffee. The chocolate extract lends amazing depth of flavor to chocolate baked goods! If you can't find it in your local grocery store, you can find some [here]. Even better, make yourself some [Homemade Chocolate Extract] for next time.
The addition of coffee to the cake batter won't make it taste like coffee, I swear! The coffee further enhances the chocolate flavor. If you would prefer not to, you can use hot water instead.
The recipe makes a triple-layer 8" cake. If you don't have three pans, the batter will still be good at room temperature for about three hours if you need to bake them individually. To ensure I have the same amount of batter in each pan, I use my kitchen scale (link [here]) and weigh the pans. It's hard to eyeball the amount when you're making three layers, especially if you don't have three pans and you're baking the cake layers individually.
I don't agree with my husband on many things regarding sweets (coconut is DELICIOUS and, yes, dessert is a required food group!). That said, I totally get his love for all things chocolate peanut butter. It's an amazing combination. Make this cake for the chocolate peanut butter lover in your life (especially if that person is you)!
Other posts you may like:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Angel Food Cake
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Italian Buttercream
Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
Cake adapted from Half Baked harvest (link here). Peanut butter Swiss meringue buttercream adapted from Liv for Cake (link here).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoon peanut butter powder (see note)
- 2 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (see note)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon chocolate extract (see note)
- 1 cup coffee, hot (see note)
Peanut Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 5 egg whites
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
- ½ cup peanut butter powder (see note)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dark Chocolate Ganache:
- 3 oz dark chocolate, chopped (I used 60% cacao)
- 3 oz heavy (whipping) cream
Instructions
For Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease three 8-inch cake pans (see note) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, peanut butter powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt). Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, buttermilk (see note), oil, vanilla extract, and chocolate extract (see note). Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients gradually, mixing until just combined.
- Add champagne and coffee (see note). Mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter among the prepared pans (see note on weighing batter). If desired, affix wet cake strips to the pans (see note).
- Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes are set and no longer wiggle. Allow cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
For Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and brown sugar. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water on the stove, ensuring that the water doesn't touch the bowl.
- Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, place the bowl on the mixer and use the whisk attachment to mix on medium-high speed until the mixture is stiff and the bowl is cool to the touch (about 10 minutes).
- With the mixer running on medium-high speed, add the butter a few pieces at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate before adding the next. Continue whisking until smooth.
- Add the peanut butter powder (sifted, if necessary) and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Frost the cake layers with the buttercream, reserving some buttercream to pipe on top, if desired.
For Ganache:
- Combine chocolate and cream in a medium heatproof bowl. Microwave on 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until ganache is smooth.
- While still warm and pourable, pour over the top of the cake, spreading the ganache with an offset spatula and allowing the ganache to drip down the sides, if desired.
- After ganache has set, pipe reserved buttercream on top of ganache, if desired.Enjoy!
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