Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a heatproof bowl (that fits over the top of a saucepan) combine the chocolate and the butter. Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and stir periodically until melted. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs and the sugar. Beat on medium high until light, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and combine thoroughly. Add the chocolate and butter mixture and stir thoroughly. Sift the dry ingredients (flour through salt) into a separate bowl then add them into the wet ingredients in three additions, mixing on low as you go.

Butter and flour three 6″ round baking pans. Divide the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the top, put pans into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from oven.

Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan then invert them out of the pans and allow them to cool on cooling racks. Once cool, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

For the filling:
Combine the whipping cream, the sugar and the extract in the bowl of a mixer and whip until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl whip the peanut butter until light. Fold the whipping cream into the peanut butter with a rubber spatula.

Remove the cakes from the refrigerator and place the bottom round on a cake plate. Divide the filling in half, and spread half over the bottom layer. Add a second cake layer and spread the remaining filling over that cake layer. Then add the top cake layer. Place the cake back into the refrigerator, while you make the ganache.

For the ganache:
Combine the whipping cream and the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk the ingredients periodically until the chocolate begins to melt. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Whisk until the ingredients are fully combined. Let it sit at room temperature until the mixture begins to thicken, about 45 minutes.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and use an offset spatula to spread the ganache over the surface of the cake. Store cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from John Currence’s Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey.