A lovely friend of mine turns 30 in a couple of days and I knew I wanted to do a sneaky surprise cake for her.

Not knowing what cakes she liked i sent her a message saying I might be able to throw a few cupcakes together and what flavour did she like…

Her response was…

CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER!

Come again?! What.. together?

Now i’m sure if you are Stateside reading this that seems perfectly normal, but as I am a Brit i thought she was slightly mad. It’s ok, she’s an artist so is allowed to be a bit loopy right?

Never the less, chocolate and peanut butter cake it was.

A quick search round the internet brought up several recipes and this one caught my eye. The original is by The Fabulous Baker Boy who can be found here.

This recipe is for cupcakes so I doubled the quantities as I wanted enough to make a deep cake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe

For the cakes:

100g plain flour

140g caster sugar

20g cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

Pinch salt

35g soft unsalted butter

12oml full fat milk

1 egg

Couple of drops vanilla extract

3 tbsps smooth peanut butter

For the icing:

250g icing sugar (sifted)

70g soft unsalted butter

50ml full fat milk

Couple of drops vanilla extract

3-5 tbsps smooth peanut butter

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3

Beat the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter until well mixed.

Whisk the egg, vanilla and milk in a jug and add slowly to the beating dry mix and continue to beat until you have a smooth mixture.

Add in the peanut butter and continue beating until it’s completely mixed in.

Spoon into a 12-hole cake tray and bake for 20 mins or so – until the sponge bounces back and a skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, leave to cool completely.

(I did 2 8′ square tins and found the cake cooked quite quickly. I was oven watching after 30 minutes and removed the cakes shortly after.)

For the icing, mix the milk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together the icing sugar and butter, then add the milk a little at a time until about half of it has gone. Then add the peanut butter and beat until incorporated. The mixture will go a bit dry and clumpy as the peanut butter is so sticky – continue adding milk a little bit at a time until you have a smooth, thick icing which is soft but NOT RUNNY (as it’ll slide right off the cakes).

Spoon or pipe the icing onto the cakes to decorate

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I think it’s important to note here that I do not like peanut butter.

BUT

Oh my word, the batter tasted amazing. I did not even want to cook it. I just wanted to sit with the bowl and eat the lot. The empty bowl, beater and spoon got licked clean!

I did cook it.. eventually, and the finished cake was wonderful. It’s beautifully nutty, a little bit salty and full of chocolate flavour. It’s awesome.

Tip* If you are into cake carving then this cake will not take serious abuse, a gentle shape is fine but probably not a cake for a severe wonk or dramatic shape.

Here is the finished cake! A whimsical artist palette with cartoony paint and brushes!