Moist Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Print Pin VideoThis Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake is the perfect treat for chocolate and peanut butter lovers! It features rich, moist chocolate cake layers paired with a luxuriously creamy peanut butter frosting. Every bite offers the perfect balance of deep cocoa flavor and nutty, buttery goodness—making it the ultimate sweet-and-salty dessert!
IMPORTANT: 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
Chocolate Cake
- 1¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (75 g) cocoa powder - Dutch-processed preferred (see note 1)
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt - only use ½ tsp if using salted butter in this recipe
- 1 cup (200 g) soft light brown sugar
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (180 g) milk - room temperature, whole milk
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter - melted
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 2½ tsps vanilla extract/essence
- ¾ cup (180 g) strong hot coffee - I use 1 tbsp instant coffee powder in 180g (¾ cup) hot water, but you can use espresso as well
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1¼ cups (283 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 2½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing or confectioners' sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract/essence
- ⅓ cup (80 g) heavy cream - room temperature
- ¾ cup (195 g) peanut butter - use a smooth, creamy version
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8 inch cake pans (I use my homemade cake release). Line the bottoms with parchment paper as well.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined and set aside for now.
- In a large bowl add in brown sugar, white sugar, milk, melted butter, unflavored vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla. Using a whisk, mix until well combined.
- Add in the presifted dry ingredients from earlier to the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Add in hot coffee and mix with a whisk until well combined. The mixture should be smooth, but avoid overmixing.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans from earlier. Drop the cake pans lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 38 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the cake pans for 20 minutes, before carefully turning them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
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 (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl half way through. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
- The frosting should be silky smooth and it's now ready to use! See note 3 if your frosting isn't light and smooth, or too soft. See video or blog post above for tips on how to assemble and decorate the cake. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Note 1. Dutch-processed cocoa powder has a smoother and less acidic taste compared to natural cocoa powder. It also has a darker/richer color so will give you that deep chocolate color (like my chocolate sheet cake). One way to check if a brand of cocoa powder is Dutch processed is to check the package and see if it has any acidity regulators in the ingredients list. The cocoa will also be darker and less of a bright brown color (compared to natural cocoa).
Note 2. If using a convection oven that has a fan function, bake at 160 °C (320°F) as the fan function bakes food faster.
Note 3. If you find that your frosting is a bit firm and has a lot of air bubbles, then it means that either the butter or cream was too cold. To fix this, gently heat the buttercream in the microwave for 5 second bursts (don't heat it for too long otherwise the buttercream will melt), mixing in between each burst until the frosting is softer in consistency and you can easily mix it, and then re-whip it for a few minutes. If your frosting is too soft, simply pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes, and then re-whip it.
Nutrition
Calories: 779kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 47g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 514mg | Potassium: 289mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 65g | Vitamin A: 923IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 2mg
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.
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