High Altitude Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Soft and moist dark chocolate cake, frosted with fluffy peanut butter buttercream that's flecked with chopped chocolate.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 8-inch cake pans (x3)
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee, optional
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ - ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp milk, ONLY if needed for desired consistency
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, NOT all-natural
- 3 oz good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
Ganache
- 2 oz good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 oz heavy whipping cream
- salted peanuts
- nutter butter cookies
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray. If making half the recipe, use three 6-inch cake pans.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk until combined, about 15 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 22-28 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine.
- Add the vanilla, and increase the speed to medium (#4-6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer); whip for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally, and only adding the milk if needed for desired consistency. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 2 minutes to eliminate big air bubbles.
- Add the peanut butter and the chopped chocolate, and fold in with a spatula until combined.
Decorating
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Place one cake layer on a cake board, and frost with a layer of buttercream. Repeat stacking and filling the cake layers, then frost all over with a thin "crumb coat" of buttercream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat, keeping the bowl of remaining buttercream covered. Frost the cake all over with a final layer of buttercream. Chill the cake for a few minutes while you make the chocolate ganache.
- For the ganache, combine the chopped chocolate and the cream in a microwaveable bowl. Warm the mixture for several minutes at 50% power, stirring frequently, until smooth and melted.
- Use a spoon to drip some of the ganache around the edges of the cake, then dip a few nutter butter cookies in the extra ganache.
- Decorate the cake with the cookies and salted peanuts.
Notes
Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier for 3 days.
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