Peanut Butter and Cream Cheese Frosted Chocolate Cake

By srumbel

Now I knew that for this cake I really wanted the peanut butter frosting to be the star so I did not overpower the cake with chocolate. In fact, it is not a dark chocolate at all. It is more of a sweet German Chocolate Cake that has a lighter chocolate flavor. This way, the peanut butter flavor in the frosting really pops!
from two-in-the-kitchen.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 2 oz. semi sweet chocolate squares (coarsely chopped)
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. unsalted butter (softened)
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 c. flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 c. buttermilk
• For Frosting
• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 4 TBLS butter (softened)
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 - 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• Decorations (optional)
• Double the frosting recipe if you plan to pipe decorations on the cake
• 7 peanut butter cups
• chocolate sprinkles

Preparation

Step 1

For the cake
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, place cocoa and chocolate and pour in boiling water and whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, place butter and mix until creamy. Add the sugar and eggs and mix after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate medium bowl, place flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until incorporated.
To the bowl with the butter/sugar mixture, add the flour mixture, chocolate mixture, and butter milk incrementally, in two-three separate additions apiece and mix after each addition just until incorporated.
When it is all mixed pour batter evenly into the two cake pans and place pans in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean and the top springs back when touched.
Allow to cool on a cooling rack for at least thirty minutes. Use a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen before inverting the pans to pop out the cake.

For frosting
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese, butter, peanut butter and vanilla together until well mixed and smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl and mix in three additions until the frosting reaches the desired consistency. This frosting recipe is enough to frost one two layered cake.

For decorations (optional)
Decorate the cake as desired. If Piping is desired, then double the frosting recipe. Use sprinkles on the side of the cake if desired. Coarsely chop 4 peanut butter cups and place them in center of the cake. Cut 3 peanut butter cups in half and place decoratively on top of the cake.