Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Not to be confused with a Peanut Butter Cupcake!

This was my attempt at a cake my wife forwarded to me one morning.  It's as if she was saying "you should make this" but I know she doesn't like peanut butter or cheesecake so I'm not really sure why she was passing it along.  She has recently become addicted to Pinterest and I think that is where she came across this awesome cake.  If you don't want to click on the link up there to see some details about the cake I will tell you about her version....it's supposed to be 10 freakin pounds!!!!!  Yeah 10 lbs!  It's a layer of cheesecake on top of a layer of chocolate cake on top of a cheesecake on top of a chocolate cake.....talk about confusing the tongue!  Oh yeah and to make matters worse on the poor unsuspecting taste buds, it's got peanut butter cups and caramel thrown in there all slathered up with a chocolate ganache frosting!  


I read through her recipe and found things I liked about it and things I hated (it takes 2-3 days to make it).  Yeah totally hated that.  Too many ingredients, too many steps and too much time.  So I went lazy.  I decided to make my typical 3-2-1 cheesecake and throw that in between two chocolate box cakes.  The only problem is I didn't have a chocolate box cake, I had a vanilla box cake.  So I did what any man would do and added a crap load of cocoa powder to the cake mix and rolled the dice....


Not the best idea, next time I'll go buy the $0.97 chocolate box cake and use that.  


So my version of the amazing cake that my wife forwarded to me is as follows....


Make a 3-2-1 cheesecake without a crust and get it started cooling.  You can make it chocolate and throw in some quartered peanut butter cups or whatever flavor you want.  I made a vanilla version with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.  It was a great flavor, very subtle though.   I would suggest trimming the top after it collapses so when you put the layers together they fit better.  According to the sprinkle lady whose recipe I referenced, this cake is best served frozen.  So I pulled my cheesecake out of the oven, let it cool a bit then threw it in the freezer.  While that was cooling I made the box cake according to recipe on the box, only like I mentioned earlier mine was a vanilla mix with about a cup of cocoa powder.  It tasted great, but just not the perfect chocolate cake taste I was looking for. 


Once all three cakes are baked and in the freezer you can bake an apple pie...that's what I did.  In my opinion the cakes all need to be cold, not necessarily "frozen" when you proceed.


Here's where I go really different from the sprinkle lady.  I'm thinking this cake needs more peanut butter flavor so I think a layer of peanut butter whipped frosting should go between the first chocolate cake and the cheesecake.


2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
8 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
9 mini peanut butter cups 

Cream peanut butter and butter together in stand mixer with whisk attachment.  Gradually add powdered sugar.  Whip on high speed until light and fluffy.


So throw down the first chocolate cake, then put the peanut butter frosting on, along with a half cup of quartered peanut butter cups, then throw on the cheesecake.  You can either drizzle some caramel on top of the cheesecake or go with some chocolate frosting, I personally don't like the caramel on this cake so I would go with chocolate if I were doing it again.  Sprinkle lady had some peanuts in there, that might be good too.  Next throw on the other chocolate cake and all that's left is the icing.  This is best done by following the sprinkle lady's directions...


13 oz. or 1 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tbsp. corn syrup

Heat the cream till hot but not boiling, then remove from heat and add the chocolate.  Stir till melted and smooth.  Remove 2/3 cup of chocolate mixture into a separate bowl and add the corn syrup.  This is for the top of the cake.


While it's still hot smear it all over the top of the cake, then throw the whole thing into the freezer while you whip the rest of the frosting.

The remaining chocolate mixture goes into the mixer with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, approximately 7-10 minutes on high.  This fluffy stuff is for the sides.

Smear the fluffy stuff all over the sides to make it look pretty, and bam, you're done.  You can always add the peanut butter cup and pipe on some peanut butter frosting on top, but this is the ugly cheesecake blog, so if I do this cake again I'm leaving that part off!