This ultra-moist peanut butter and jelly cake is a fun, nostalgic twist on a classic combo. It features soft, tender peanut butter cake layers with creamy peanut butter frosting and a sweet, yet perfectly tart jelly filling. So good!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, this is that childhood favorite — all grown up and turned into the softest, most delicious cake! I never thought I’d enjoy a peanut butter and jelly cake as much as this, but this one completely changed my mind. My taste testers agreed it’s genuinely one of the best cakes they’ve had! Here’s why you’ll love it:
Soft and Tender
Butter and oil give you the best of both worlds — flavor and moisture — while buttermilk and cornstarch create a soft, fine crumb that stays beautifully tender. Don’t just take my word for it, my original peanut butter cake used in this recipe came first in a peanut butter cake bake off by The Pancake Princess!
Bold Peanut Butter Flavor
Peanut butter in both the cake and frosting means nutty goodness in every bite — rich and creamy, but never overwhelming.
Perfectly Balanced Sweetness
Brown sugar adds depth, while the fresh raspberry jelly and lemon juice cut through the richness for a perfectly balanced bite.
Fresh Raspberry Jelly Filling
Cooked until thick and glossy, the homemade raspberry filling adds a bright, fruity contrast that makes each slice pop. If you don’t have raspberries, any pre-made jam (like strawberry jam) will work in a pinch too!
Ultra-Silky Frosting
Whipped for a full 10 minutes, the frosting turns light, fluffy, and incredibly smooth — easy to spread and pipe.
Using the Right Peanut Butter
For best results, make sure you use a creamy peanut butter, and one that is unsweetened. If you use sweetened peanut butter (like Skippy or Jif), your cake will be a bit sweeter. This peanut butter and jelly cake isn’t overly sweet though, so it may not be an issue for most people. However, if you do prefer a less sweet cake and only have a sweetened peanut butter on hand, then you can reduce the sugar in the cake batter slightly (I’ve added notes on the recipe card below with more information).
Be careful not to reduce too much of the sugar though, as sugar changes the texture of your cake (click here for more info). Too little sugar may result in your cake not baking up into that soft fluffy texture that we want!
I would also recommend using a processed peanut butter that doesn’t need to be thoroughly mixed (i.e. it doesn’t have a thick layer of oil on the top). This will just ensure that you’re not accidentally adding too little or too less oil to the cake batter, which can again impact the final texture.
How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake
You can find the full list of ingredients for this peanut butter and jelly cake recipe in the recipe card at the end of the blog post (for easy navigation, hit the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the blog post). Here is a quick visual breakdown of the recipe (video tutorial is also provided in the recipe card below).
Peanut Butter Cake
Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional and grease and/or line two 8-inch cake pans. I use my homemade cake release to grease my tins.
In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil, white granulated sugar, soft brown sugar and peanut butter. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine), cream together on a medium speed for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one at a time on a low speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in vanilla and buttermilk, and mix on a medium speed until well combined. You should have a smooth creamy batter. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Add in the pre-sifted dry ingredients from earlier and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
Pour batter evenly between the two prepared pans, and drop the cake tins lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
Once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before assembling.
Jelly Filling
Place a saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add all of the ingredients into the saucepan and stir so that it’s mixed well.
Let the mixture slowly heat up and stir every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the raspberries have disintegrated and you have a liquid mixture, continue to cook for a few minutes to allow it to thicken up.
Once done, remove from the heat and place it in a heatproof bowl or container. Allow it to come to room temperature before using.
Peanut Butter Frosting
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer if using one), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cream, peanut butter and salt.
Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined, and then turn up the mixer to a medium-high speed and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl half-way through. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
The frosting should be silky smooth and it’s now ready to use!
Assembly (see video for visual demonstration)
Begin by trimming the tops of the cake layers with a serrated knife so that they’re nice and flat.
Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top. Place some of the frosting into a piping bag with a large 1M piping tip, and pipe a border/dam around the edges of the cake layer to hold in the jelly filling. Fill the middle with half of the jelly filling.
Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides.
For the top of the cake, pipe a decorative border around the top edges (I like to use a 1M piping tip – see video for demonstration) and then fill the middle with the remaining jelly filling. Enjoy!
How Do You Store Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake?
This peanut butter and jelly cake can be left out at room temperature overnight. However, after a day it’s best to pop it into the fridge because of the cream in the frosting and the homemade jelly filling. The sugar and fat help preserve it, but to be safe, pop it into the refrigerator no later than the day after it’s made.
Store the cake in an airtight container (or well covered) before refrigerating to prevent it from drying out. Before serving, let it sit at room temperature for 60 minutes so the frosting softens and the cake becomes tender again.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cake
- 1⅔ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
- 3 tbsps (24 g) cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ⅓ cup (80 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- ½ cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) light soft brown sugar
- ⅔ cups (150 g) smooth unsweetened peanut butter - use a creamy, processed one (see note 5 if using a sweetened version like Skippy)
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
- 1 cup (225 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Jelly Filling
- 1 cup (110 g) frozen raspberries
- ¾ tbsp (6 g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15 g) lemon juice - must be fresh
- 3 tbsps (38 g) white granulated sugar
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners' sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract/essence
- ½ cup (120 g) heavy cream - room temperature
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (250 g) smooth unsweetened peanut butter - use a creamy version
Instructions
Peanut Butter Cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional (see note 1 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease and/or line two 8-inch cake tins. I use my homemade cake release to grease my tins.
- In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil, white granulated sugar, soft brown sugar and peanut butter. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer is fine - see note 2), cream together on a medium speed for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add eggs one at a time on low speed, mixing well between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in vanilla and buttermilk, and mix on a medium speed until well combined. You should have a smooth, creamy batter. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add in the pre-sifted dry ingredients from earlier and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly between the two 8-inch cake tins, and drop the cake tins lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before assembling.
Jelly Filling
- Place a saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add all the ingredients to the saucepan and stir until mixed well.
- Let the mixture slowly heat up and stir now and then to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the raspberries have disintegrated and you have a liquid mixture, continue to cook for a few minutes to allow it to thicken up.
- Once done, remove from the heat and place it in a heatproof bowl or container. Allow it to come to room temperature before using.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer if using one), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cream, peanut butter and salt.
- Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined, and then turn up the speed to medium-high and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
- The frosting should be silky smooth and it's now ready to use! See note 4 if your frosting isn't light and smooth, or too soft.
Assembly (see video for visual demonstration)
- Begin by trimming the tops of the cake layers with a serrated knife so that they're nice and flat.
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top.
- Place some of the frosting into a piping bag with a large 1M piping tip, and pipe a border/dam around the edges of the cake layer to hold in the jelly filling. Fill the middle with half of the jelly filling.
- Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides.
- For the top, pipe a decorative border around the top edges (I like to use a 1M piping tip - see video for demonstration) and then fill the middle with the remaining jelly filling. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
2 Comments
An absolutely divine recipe, I followed it step by step and it came out so so good! Not as pretty though, I still need to brush up my decorating skills!
Aww yay! So glad you loved the recipe Leila 😀