peanut butter & cherry chocolate cake

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We celebrated my dad's birthday over Memorial Day weekend. We played poker with spare change, suffered through a power outage, and ate cake. When I asked him on Friday what kind of cake he wanted, he replied with "chocolate, peanut butter, and cherry." Might sound like an odd trio of flavors, but if you think about it, it's like a peanut butter sandwich with cherry jam, sandwiched between chocolate bread.

You know what's annoying about yellow counters? The color matches the color of most baked goods and provides no color contrast. This makes for a rather dull picture.

To start, I messed up the cake. The recipe was fine, though I accidentally measured out too much liquid. The other suspected cause was the lower baking temperature, 325 instead of the traditional 350. It seemed odd. I decided to follow the recipe and do what it said, but I wonder if the lower temperature contributed to the sunken centers. However, most of the fault is mine, and my inability to read the recipe and accurately measure ingredients.

Dilemma. Should I remake the cakes or figure out a way to use them, sunken centers and all? Since the middle was going to be filled with cherries, I figured that the craters could face each other. The flat sides would face outwards, providing a smooth icing surface. This worked out well, and prevented the waste of additional ingredients.

The cherries used for the filling were from a can. I decided on Queen Anne cherries in a sweetened syrup, drained, and coarsely chopped. Twelve cherries were reserved to decorate the top. The color matched the frosting, though that wasn't intentional.

For the frosting, I developed my own recipe using heavy whipping heavy cream, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, and a little salt. The result is a nice and airy frosting with a strong peanut butter taste, and a lighter texture in comparison to other recipes. Even though this frosting is less dense, it holds up well and is easy to work with. I'm sharing the recipe with you guys.

Overall, I'm happy with how this cake turned out. Most importantly, my dad liked it! Happy Birthday!

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Print this recipe

Light and Airy Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe by Christina Provo

Makes enough frosting for one 2-layer 9-inch cake

ingredients -

1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
4 cups confectioners' sugar
16 ounces smooth peanut butter
3/4 teaspoons coarse salt

directions -

1. In a large bowl, beat whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until smooth.


2. Add peanut butter and continue to mix, on medium speed, until thoroughly combined. Stir in salt with a spatula.