to die for

I like to bake.

In college Jamie and I initiated Cake Sundays where our friends were welcome to BYOBS, Bring Your Own Bowl and Spoon, and try out one of our cake creations. It was pretty great in that we made friends and became confident little bakers. I was on hiatus from baking for a few years but since about December I’ve gotten back into it. Mostly I got bored on Sunday afternoons in this Winter. My coworkers often are the lucky recipients of my baking escapades. Now it’s kind of a tradition that I bring in baked goods for my coworker’s birthdays. Starting with the next birthday though, I’m going to need to take up a collection or something though because it’s adding up!!

Today is my coworker Amanda’s 24th birthday so last night I made her a FABULOUS cake that Brianne found. It turned out to be the most delicious cake I’ve made in a long time. She’s making it for her family BBQ this weekend and they are in for a real treat!

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

16 servings
Prep: 15 minutes Chill: 1 hour Bake: at 350 degrees F for 34 minutes

Ingredients
1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's food
cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped chocolate-covered peanut butter cups (about 8 ounces), plus more to garnish
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line with waxed paper; coat paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side of the bowl after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.
3. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let layers cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
4. Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium-size bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth.
5. Trim top of cake layers flat with a serrated knife. Put 1 cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour 1 cup frosting on top; spread evenly with a spatula. Top with remaining cake layer. Pour remaining frosting over the top, allowing it to spill over the sides. Smooth top and sides with spatula. Refrigerate 1 hour to set. Transfer cake to serving plate and garnish with chopped candy, if desired.

I used a 12 oz bag of Reese Peanut Putter but I think if I did it again I’d get the 16 oz bag – more is better!!

Another change I made was instead of an 8 oz bar of chopped dark chocolate, I used a bag of dark chocolate Hersey’s Bliss but then I found it was a little strong as a frosting so I added two healing spoonfuls of powdered sugar to the mix and it was much better.

I tried out the foil baking cups since I only have one cupcake pan and found that they worked really well. Only took about 20 minutes to bake 17 or so large cupcakes.

For the record, I had to go to three stores to get all the ingredients. Sometimes the stores out here make me sad. I keep thinking about that huge store I went to with Jamie a few weeks ago – Hammond’s or something like that. Such variety! Sigh.

I still <3 NY