Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for a crowd Recipe

Immediately’s cake is devoted to everybody who has tried to chop a towering 4 layer cake into 30 slices to share with co-workers. It’s unimaginable!!

Enter – slab muffins. A reputation generally used for single layer muffins baked in rectangle pans, these are the right answer for a cake to serve many who’s simpler to assemble than layer muffins, extra enjoyable to embellish (bigger canvas to play with), and simpler to move too (no Leaning Tower of Pisa scenario).

Bonus: increased cake-to-frosting ratio per individual. It issues!

Immediately’s slab cake entails the never-fail mixture of peanut butter and chocolate, adorned with informal abundance (ie no stress). It seems to be like a Jackson Pollock – however higher, as a result of it’s edible!

This cake is made with my basic, perpetually Chocolate Cake (stunning chocolatey flavour, a smooth moist crumb and ridiculously easy to make – no electrical beater required), fluffy peanut butter frosting and decorations (Reece’s peanut butter cups, chocolate and peanut butter drizzle plus chopped nuts). Abundance!

The chocolate cake

Right here’s what you want for the chocolate cake.

• Flour – simply plain / all goal flour. No want to make use of pricier cake flour (really makes the crumb too damp, I discover).

• Cocoa powder – common, unsweetened cocoa powder (unsweetened is the default right here in Australia), not sizzling chocolate powder (sweetened). The cake works with dutch processed cocoa powder (pricier, with extra intense chocolate flavour) nevertheless it doesn’t enhance it by a noticeable quantity so it’s not value utilizing for this cake, in my view.

• Espresso powder (OPTIONAL!) – This uncommon sounding ingredient in a chocolate cake is somewhat secret trick to reinforce the flavour of chocolate in muffins. You possibly can’t style espresso in any respect! And it’s only a small quantity. There’s no must search out an costly model, simply any model is okay. Simply you’ll want to get the dissolvable granules (ie that dissolve while you add sizzling water), not the bottom espresso beans that’s used for plungers, filters and low machines (doesn’t dissolve).

  Substitute with sizzling freshly brewed espresso as a substitute of boiling water.

• Baking powder and baking soda (bi-carb soda) – These each make muffins, muffins and so forth rise however have completely different results on completely different batters. As a basic rule, baking soda is 3x stronger than baking powder. For this cake, a mixture of each makes the cake rise so it has a comparatively flat floor (fairly than a dome) and the crumb is beautiful and lightweight.

  Substitute – Simply use baking powder. The cake rises barely much less however nobody will discover except you’re a recipe control-freak like, say, me, who will check variations of the cake and line them up aspect by aspect to check.😂

• Eggs – This recipe requires “massive eggs” that are eggs bought in cartons labelled as “massive eggs”. The load for a 12 egg carton is 600 – 660g (24 oz), with every egg weighing 55 – 55g / 2 oz within the shell. In contrast to most recipes, there is no such thing as a must carry the eggs to room temperature as a result of boiling water is added into the batter which brings the temperature of fridge-cold substances up to make sure all the pieces combines collectively correctly!

• Sugar – Simply common white sugar (granulated sugar). Caster sugar / superfine sugar ist nice to make use of right here too however not obligatory. Don’t use brown sugar, makes the cake too damp and alters the flavour.

• Salt – This recipe requires 1 entire teaspoon of salt which I do know seems like quite a bit nevertheless it actually helps carry out the chocolate flavour and does NOT make it style salty in any respect! Remember to use cooking salt (bought labelled as such) or kosher salt (US). In the event you solely have desk salt (the nice, sand-like salt) use 3/4 teaspoon and in the event you solely have fancier sea salt flakes, use 1 1/2 teaspoons.

• Milk – Full fats cow milk is finest although low fats works too. And in my travels, I’ve found / learn from readers that non-animal milks work as nicely, together with soy, almond and oat milk.

• Oil – Any impartial flavoured oil, like vegetable oil, canola, rapeseed, grapeseed or sunflower oil can be utilized. This recipe makes use of oil fairly than butter because the fats and that is partly what makes the cake so moist and offers it glorious shelf life (it stays recent for five days). Rule of thumb for baking – butter offers issues flavour however oil retains issues moist! (Motive: butter hardens when chilly, oil stays liquid).

• Vanilla extract – For flavour enhancement. It doesn’t make the cake vanilla-forward, it compliments the chocolate flavour.

• Boiling water – This makes the chocolate flavour from the cocoa bloom! It additionally warms up fridge-cold substances (eggs and milk) to make sure all the pieces combines collectively totally. So good to have a cake recipe that does name for something to be “at room temperature”!

The peanut butter frosting

The frosting is a buttercream frosting which is whipped till fantastically gentle and fluffy with a great quantity of peanut butter!

• Peanut butter – I exploit peanut butter unfold for this recipe which has sugar and salt added to it, fairly than pure, pure peanut butter which I exploit for issues like Satay Peanut Sauce. In the event you solely have pure peanut butter, you will want to make use of much less as a result of it’s runnier (see recipe notes).

• Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature so it may be whipped right into a fluffy frosting. Don’t let it get too smooth and sloppy else your frosting will probably be too! Technically in baking phrases, “softened butter” needs to be 17°C/63°F – firmer than you suppose! 🙂 That is smooth sufficient to whip into creamy fluffiness however agency sufficient so it doesn’t flip frosting into slop.

• Comfortable icing sugar / powdered sugar – In the event you’re in Australia, you’ll want to get smooth icing sugar which is used for fluffy frostings like this, NOT pure icing sugar which is used for icings that set onerous like royal icing (used for piping decorations on Gingerbread Males and so forth). If you’re not in Australia, you don’t want to fret about this as smooth v pure icing sugar choices appears to be a uniquely Australian factor.

• Vanilla – For flavour.

• Pinch of salt – To carry out the flavours within the frosting.

TOPPINGS – really useful however non-compulsory!

You might make this with none toppings in any respect and I’d nonetheless scoff it down. However with the toppings, it takes it excessive into Outrageous Land which I’m at all times joyful to be in! Choose and select as you please, what you want and what fits your price range. 🙂

Reece’s peanut butter cups (non-compulsory) – some common miniature ones and a few mini, mini ones, some chopped, some stored entire! Sure this provides that additional “wow” issue to this cake however I’d not hesitate to make this cake with out.

1. Melted chocolate drizzle – Simply chocolate chips or melts, melted with somewhat cream so it doesn’t solidify when it cools.

2. Melted peanut butter – Actually simply peanut butter melted within the microwave turns it into good drizzle-able type! (Is {that a} phrase??)

3. Chopped peanuts (oops, forgot a photograph) – For sprinkling! I like to make use of salted peanuts.

Make the cake first. It is going to take a great couple of hours to totally cool which is important earlier than slathering on the frosting (sizzling cake = melted frosting = 😭). Pace issues up by popping it within the fridge.

1. The cake

The cake half is really easy – only one bowl and a picket spoon! (Properly, whisk. 🙂 )

1. Whisk dry – Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda right into a bowl. Add the sugar and salt, then whisk to mix.

2. Add moist – Add the egg, oil, milk and vanilla, then whisk.

3. Boiling water & espresso – Add the espresso powder then pour within the sizzling water (so the moment espresso powder dissolvers). Whisk nicely to mix.

4. Heads up: the batter is VERY skinny!

5. Pour the batter right into a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13″ pan lined with paper.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clear. Then absolutely cool on a rack earlier than frosting and adorning!

2. DECORATING

1. Unfold the frosting on the cake.

2. Drizzle – Soften the chocolate with the cream (15 second bursts within the microwave). Warmth the peanut butter till it’s runny sufficient to drizzle. Allow them to each cool for a couple of minutes then randomly drizzle throughout the cake. Use most now and reserve some for drizzling once more as soon as the opposite toppings are on.

3. Peanut butter cups – Randomly scatter the peanut butter cups throughout the floor. I minimize the miniature ones in half and maintain the mini, mini ones entire.

4. Sprinkle & drizzle once more! Then sprinkle the whole floor with finely chopped peanuts and a one other drizzle of chocolate and peanut butter (I TOLD YOU THIS WAS OUTRAGEOUS!!).

Stand again and admire your edible Jackson Pollock!

One other aspect advantage of a slab cake in comparison with towering layers muffins is that there is no such thing as a must refrigerate for a bit to stabilise it earlier than reducing. This cake is able to go the second you end that final drizzle of chocolate!

Minimize slices to no matter dimension you want, and since we’re beneficiant with toppings the slices don’t should be that enormous to nonetheless be indulgent! 20 slices is a pleasant dimension (6.5 x 5.75cm / 2.25 x 2.6″) – minimize 5 on the lengthy aspect then 4 on the brief aspect. Although it will possibly simply serve 25.

Retailer it within the fridge although at all times carry to room temperature earlier than serving as a result of the buttercream frosting will go onerous. The cake will keep recent for five days so it’s bought a terrific shelf life.

Take pleasure in!