Peanut Butter Cake With Chocolate Buttercream

The coolest thing in the world has happened. I, Hannah Jeffries of Burnaby, British Columbia of the former British colony that is now known as Canada, and the daughter of Dan and June; met Joy the Baker. Thee Joy the Baker. Not just some Joy that bakes, not that they aren't cool too, but the one and only Joy the Baker.

Back in February, Salivz and I woke up at an ungodly hour after a night of facetime and wine to drive all the way down to Seattle (otherwise known as C-@Z) for her book signing in Fremont. Now I've never been cool but, boy, did I fool her. Not only did I have the shakes and the sweats but whenever anything exciting happens, tears pour. Thank God I locked the tears down.

She is totally awesome and pretty and she looks so hip, hop and happening. After I walked out of the book store, I broke out into a dance that was a mix of a crump and Irish dancing whilst singing 'Ni**as in Paris.' Please don't judge me, I was definitely in my zone.  

Peanut Butter Cake With Chocolate Buttercream

From the Joy the Baker Cookbook

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 eggs

1 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 with the racks in the upper and lower third. Butter and flour, or baking spray it up, two 9 inch cake pans. Set them aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a larger separate bowl, beat together the butters and sugars until they are light and creamy. Beat it up for about three minutes with some elbow grease. Then beat in the eggs one at a time until it is all nice and combined. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined and then pour in all of the buttermilk. Stir and just as it's about to come together, add the rest of the flour mixture. Now divide the batter between the two pans. Bake the cake for 15 to 25 minutes, alternating halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let them sit in the pan for ten minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream

From the Joy the Baker Cookbook

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted

Scant 1/2 cup of heavy cream 

1/3 cup ovaltine powder

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, cocoa and salt at a medium speed until combined and fluffy. Reduce the speed and slowly pour in the milk and vanilla. Beat to combine. Now add 2 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. Slowly beat at first so that it doesn't fly up everywhere and attack you and then increase the speed to combine it all up. That should take about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed. In a one cup measuring cup, mix together the cream and ovaltine to combine. With the mixer going at a slower speed, slowly pour in the cream mixture until it is all combined. Keep beating until it looks nice and fluffy and delicious. I threw mine in the fridge for 30 minutes before I used it on the cakes.. and ate some while I waited.

Assembly Line Time

2 cups quartered mini reese's cups (optional)

Take one of the cooled cakes and plop it on a cutting board. Grab a big old serrated and thin blade knife. I run this puppy along the top to get rid of the dome on the cake. Mine normally dont turn out to even but as long as you have most of the dome top gone, you're in the clear. Repeat with the other cake. Now grab a pretty cake stand and throw a cooled cake on it, with the cut side facing up. Grab some of the buttercream and spread it on the cake so there is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of buttercream. Cover the buttercream with some quartered reese cups, if you wish. You can skip this part if you don't like them, which is strange because you are making a peanut butter and chocolate cake. Anyways, then plop the other cake on top, with the cut side down. Once it's secure, spread a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake. Put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This is the crumb coat. It keeps all the crumbs from ruining the pretty appearance of the cake. Once the 30 minutes are up, grab the cake and spread the rest of the buttercream on the cake. Sprinkle the rest of the peanut butter cups on top of the cake. Eat up! Makes one two-layer cake.