22 June, 2017
Chocolate Peanut Butter Drip Cake
So last weekend I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Drip Cake! I love all things Peanut Butter! I posted a photo on Facebook and have been inundated with requests for the recipe! It is actually a recipe by John Whaite, who won the third series of the Great British Bake Off in 2012 and can be found on www.bakewithstork.com
Ingredients for the Cake
- 300ml boiling water
- 450g dark brown muscavado sugar
- 180g Stork with butter
- 150g caster sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 360ml buttermilk
- 120g cocoa powder
- 480g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda powder
Ingredients for the Buttercream
- 350g Stork with butter
- 350g smooth peanut butter
- 500g icing sugar
Ingredients for the Chocolate Drip
- 75g dark chocolate chips
- 75g double cream
To decorate
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or chocolate of your choice)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line the bases of 3 x 20cm loose-bottom cake tins.
- For the cake, dissolve the dark muscavado sugar in the boiling water and set aside until needed. In a KitchenAid fitted with paddle attachment (or using an electric handheld mixer) cream together the Stork with butter and caster sugar until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition. Add the buttermilk along with the cocoa powder, and beat until smooth. Sift over the flour and bicarb and beat just until incorporated, then slowly pour in the sugar-water mixture, beating. Once you have a smooth batter, divide between the cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the buttercream whisk together the Stork and peanut butter until very pale and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Then add the icing sugar and whisk again for a further 5 minutes until very pale.
- When the cakes are cooled, sandwich them together with a layer of buttercream in between each cake. Put the cake onto a cake card and onto an icing turntable and with a small offset palette knife, spread a generous helping of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake – be careful not to touch the cake with the palette knife to avoid mixing crumbs into the buttercream. Get the tops and side as smooth and sharp as possible, then chill the cake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make a ganache by placing the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan bring the cream to a simmer, remove it from the heat, then pour it over the chocolate chips. Wait for 30 seconds then whisk together into a smooth, glossy ganache.
- Pour a little ganache over the top of the cake and coax it towards the edges of the cake allowing it to run down the sides. Chill for 10 minutes.
- To finish decorating, pile your favourite selection of chocolates and sweets on top of the cake. In my case, as I’m a peanut butter addict, it had to be Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!
Recipe adapted from Chocolate Peanut Butter Drip Cake by John Whaite.
I made this cake during the heatwave (it was very easy to achieve the chocolate drip in temperatures close to 30C!) so the finish is not as smooth as I would have liked! But it did taste very good! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you give it a go x