Don’t you love those old commercials?

This cake reminded me of the old Reeces Peanut Butter Cup commercial, “You got chocolate on my peanut butter”.

If you are too young to remember or if you are young at heart, go here to watch it.

I don’t know if there is more chocolate than peanut butter in this cake, or if there is more peanut butter than chocolate.

It is a peanutty question.

I only know it has the PMMF factor. That’s right, the PMMF factor, “Pass Me My Fork.” I really should say the PMMFN factor. “Pass Me My Fork Now,” factor.

It has a rich cake like brownie, baked with peanut butter cups, bottom, filled with a light peanut butter and whipped cream mousse, covered in a decadent ganache and topped with more peanut butter cups, then drizzled with more ganache.

See I told you…..the PMMFN factor.
Allow yourself plenty of time to make this cake. I made the mistake of not starting this cake until 8:30 pm. Also, make sure your dishwasher is empty and ready to fill with all the bowls you will use for this cake.

It will be worth it.

Remember is has the PMMFN factor.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter….together….the perfect romance.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Becky

Here is what you will need, except I forgot to get the eggs in the picture. I was too busy drooling over the peanut butter cups. OOPS

Place the chocolate in a microwave safe dish and very carefully melt the chocolate. In a bowl stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa.

     

In a mixing bowl, mix together the sugars and butter together until fluffy.

     

Add the eggs and mix in.

     

Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla.

     

Alternate adding the milk and flour cocoa mixture.

     

You end up with this rich beautiful batter. Stir in the peanut butter cups.

    

Spread batter evenly in a parchment lined 10 round baking pan. Place in preheated oven and bake.

Now it is time to make the ganache.

    

Heat up whipping cream and butter. Do not boil. When the whipping cream is very hot and the butter has melted, add the chocolate chips.

Stir the ganache until all the chocolate chips have melted. Set aside to cool. The ganache will thicken when it cools.

Time to make the mousse.

    

In a mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the peanut butter. When smooth, add the powdered sugar and mix together until it is smooth, light and fluffy.

    

In another mixing bowl, with a whisk attachment, whip the whipping cream. Fold in the peanut butter mixture into the whipped cream. Be careful not to deflate the whipping cream in the process.

Now it is time to assemble the cake. YIPPEE!

    

When the cake has cooled completely, run a sharp knife around the inside of the cake and scoop out the middle of the cake. Do not go all the way to the bottom. Save the cake pieces.

    

Fill the inside of the cake with half of the peanut butter mousse. Top the mousse witht the broken cake pieces.

    

Spread the rest of the peanut butter mousse over the cake top, covering the cake pieces. Now, pour the cooled and thicken ganache over the cake. I put my cake on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet under it to catch the drips of ganache. Make sure to cover all the edges of the cake with ganache. Save some ganache for a drizzle.

     

While the ganache is still soft place the rest of the peanut butter cups on top of the cake. Drizzle the rest of the ganache over the peanut butter cups.

Here is the finished cake. Sorry about the light glare. It is 11 pm at night and I had to have the light on. : )

This is truly a beautiful cake.

Don’t be afraid to make this cake! It does take a bit of time. But the oohs and ahhs you will get will be worth every minute.

Here is the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Serves 12

Adapted from Blue Eyed Bakers Web Page

Ingredients for the cake:

1 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped. (I used semi sweet)

1 1/2 cup cake flour (I used regular flour and it was fine)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk (I used powdered buttermilk with water)

30 minuture peanut butter cups (15 goes in the cake batter, the other 15 for the topping)

Ingredients for the Ganache:

1 cup cold whipping cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 to 10 bittersweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for the Peanut Butter Mousse:

6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

3/4 cup cream peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)

1 cup cold whipping cream ( the colder it is the more it will whip up)

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Directions for the cake:

Preheat teh oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper too.

Melt the unsweetened chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe container. This will only take 30 seconds or so. Be careful not to burn it. Set the melted chocolate aside for later.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the four, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set this aside for later.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. this will take about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs and thoroughly mix in, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla. On low speed, slowly add in the melted chocolate.

Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, to the butter and sugar mixture. be careful not to over mix.

Stir in 15 miniature peanut butter cups.

Bake the cake until the top feels firm about 40 to 45 minutes. I would check it at 35 minutes to be on the safe side.

Cool the cake on a wire rack until cool enough to invert onto a a wire rack to cool completely.

Now to prepare the ganache. In a medium sauce pan, heat the cream and butter over low heat until hot but not boiling. Add the chocolate chips. Let stand for 30 seconds and then stir to fully melt the chocolate chips and blen the cream together. Add the vanilla. Set aside to cool and thicken.

To make the mousse, mix together the cream cheese and the peanut butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl, using the whisk attachment on the electric mixer, whip the whipping cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture to lighten it up. Gently fold the the lighted peanut butter mixture to the rest of the whipped cream. Do not over mix to deflate the mousse.

To assemble the cake, put the cake, top side up onto a serving plate. Leaving a 1 inch edge all the way the cake, use a sharp knife to cup out the center of the cake to create a cavity. Scoop out the middle of the cake but do not go all the way to the bottom of the cake.

Spread half of the mousse in to the cavity. Take the broken cake pieces and place them on top of the mousse. Spread the remaing mousse over the entire top of the cake. Refrigerate the cake until the mousse is firm, about 30 minutes.

Using a spatula, spread the thickened ganache over the entire cake and sides. Top with the remaining 15 miniature peanut butter cups. Drizzle the top with left over ganache.

Keep refrigerated for up to two days.