Peanut Bundt-er...see what I did there? ;)
I made this cake for Jack's 1/2 birthday. We had to celebrate a week late on account of the wisdom teeth adventure of 2016.
If you're a peanut butter lover, you're going to love this cake.
It's soft and peanut butter-y, with a rich peanut butter fudge frosting.
My notes:
- if using this same shape Bundt pan (which I love) you might want to serve some extra frosting on the side. I'm a frosting girl, and you can never have too much in my opinion.
- if using a more traditional bundt pan, I would frost like this one.
- this cake would definitely be delicious with chocolate chips added to the batter. Next time I make it, I'm doing just that. One cup would be perfect.
When making a bundt cake, be SURE to grease and flour your pan to within an inch of its life. That sounds dramatic, but it's true. After flouring, if you notice a bare area, go back and grease and flour that spot. Otherwise, the cake might stick and tear in that spot.
Alrighty, so once the pan is good and ready, you'll make the batter.
First, the peanut butter gets creamed with the butter and sugars.
Once the batter fully comes together, you'll pour it into the pan.
Ah, look at how fluffy it bakes up!
For cooling, don't leave it in the pan more than 10 minutes...the cake will continue to "cook" in that hot pan. Leave it in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, place a wire rack upside-down on the bottom of the cake.
Flip the cake over and let it rest for one minute. This minute will give the cake a chance to release from the pan. Gently lift the pan. Voila!
Gosh, this bundt pan makes for such a pretty, swirly cake!
Now, make the frosting. I used Simply Jif and Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa here. Please just don't use the oil-on-the-top peanut butter.
To frost the cake, I put the frosting in a piping bag, snipped off the tip making a fairly large hole, and piped the frosting between the cake swirls.
As always, with a half birthday cake, you MUST give away half of the cake. This one went to Mr. E's office.
Peanut Bundt-er Cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
10 TBSP salted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
frosting:
4 TBSP salted butter, room temperature
2 TBSP creamy peanut butter
2 TBSP creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup dutch-process cocoa
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 TBSP light corn syrup
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars together until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one a a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions. Beat in the vanilla.
On low speed, mix in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. Start and end with the flour. Mix just until combined.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave it in the pan for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack upside-down on the bottom of the cake. Flip the cake over and let it rest for one minute. This minute will give the cake a chance to release from the pan. Gently lift the pan. Cool completely.
Make the frosting:
Cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the cocoa. On low speed, add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and corn syrup. Beat until thick and smooth. Add more milk or powdered sugar as needed to get the the desired consistency.
Spoon frosting into a piping bag and snip the tip. Pipe onto the cake.
*cake adapted from Nordic Ware, frosting adapted from Hershey's Fabulous Desserts (circa 1990)