PEANUT BUTTER MELT AWAY CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• For the Peanut Butter Cake LayersPreheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three 8x2 round cake pans. (I also line my pans with parchment or wax paper.) In the bowl of your mixer, combine dry ingredients and mix for 30 seconds to blend. In another bowl, combine water, eggs, oil & vanilla. Add the peanut butter and wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stop after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl then continue to mix for the second minute. Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees....check at 23 minutes to see if middle of cake springs back when touched, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake come out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, and the cake will be slightly pulled away from the pan. We bake at 325 degrees (rather than 350) to decrease the height of the dome on the cakes. Makes about 6 cups of batter. For the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese FrostingCut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Mix on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth. Add in the peanut butter and mix until blended. Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter and peanut butter mixture, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more. Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Increase mixing speed to medium and mix until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit. This frosting will pipe best if used while still slightly chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix. For the Ganache Drip**Since we did not use the ganache in between the cake layers, and only partially on top, we prepared less ganache than we often do. For this reason, we also reduced the heating time. Adjust as needed, using equal parts chocolate to heavy cream. Place your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl. Pour heavy cream over the chocolate and place in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Microwave for 15 seconds more and stir. Repeat if necessary. When the chocolate has melted almost completely with just a few small soft pieces remaining, allow it to sit for a few minutes. The remaining pieces should melt away. The ganache will cool as it thickens. Cool for about 15-20 minutes or until you can pipe drips along the inside of your bowl and get the look that you are going for. (If the ganache is too warm, the drips will run all the way down. If they only drip part of the way down the bowl, it is ready. Some of this comes down to personal preference.) I loaded my ganache into a disposable piping bag and snipped the tip away (start with a small hole, you can always make it larger). Assembling the CakePlace first cake layer on pedestal or cake base. Spread with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle peanut butter pieces over the top of the filling. Add second layer and repeat. Add third cake layer and frost as usual. For a smooth finish, I crumb coated by cake, chilled in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes to firm it up, then added second coat of frosting and smoothed over it with a heated metal bench scraper. This cream cheese frosting smooths very easily- this is an optional step. I chilled my cake in the refrigerator as I prepared my ganache. I applied the drip around the top edge of the cake (using a piping bag with the tip snipped away), and then filled in over the top of the cake with spiral designs. I halved several mini peanut butter cups and applied them to the top of the cake (slightly set back from the edge). If they are too warm and hard to work with, you can chill them before halving.

Steps:

• PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
• CHOCOLATE COATING
• ASSEMBLY