(Probably) the perfect chocolate & peanut butter cake

November 13, 2014

(Probably) the perfect chocolate & peanut butter cake

food & drink at De Tout Coeur Limousin: (probably) the perfect chocolate & peanut butter cake

chocolate cake and Autumn days in the Limousin

This is probably the perfect chocolate cake. Inspired by Autumn days, chocolate cravings and wanting to curl up in front of the fire with a nice slice of cake and Earl Grey tea. Perfect after a (very) long walk in the crisp Autumn air. I adapted this slightly from Felicity Cloake's How to cook the perfect chocolate cake - mainly in my choice of icing. For me peanut butter and chocolate chips are a perfect match and I had long been looking for a recipe I could combine the two.

I have tried numerous chocolate cake recipes in the past - some were too spongy, others too dense and torte-like but this one really is in my opinion perfect. Decadent and rich but with an old fashioned traditional feel to it. A proper chocolate cake. I urge you to give it a go. If you would like to keep to the original all-chocolate version you can follow the original recipe link below. Let me know how you get on - or share your own perfect chocolate cake recipe in the comments below - I am prepared to carry out further chocolate cake research if necessary...

recipe: adapted from Felicity Cloake's How to cook the perfect chocolate cake
preparation time: 15-20 minutes
cooking time: 25-40 minutes

ingredients:

50g dark chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
250g butter - softened
250g brown sugar
½ tsp salt
100g cocoa powder
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
250ml milk
50g chocolate chips (I made chunky choc chips by roughly chopping from a bar of chocolate)

peanut butter & chocolate chip icing:
70g butter - softened
70g peanut butter
50g cocoa powder
200g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
5 chocolate chip cookies

preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and line a deep 8 inch cake tin (or 2 sandwich tins).
cream the butter, sugar and salt until light and well combined.
add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture one at a time - mixing well between each addition.
sift the cocoa, flour and baking powder into a large bowl - add half to the wet mixture with the melted chocolate folding gently.
fold in the rest of the flour mixture with the milk and finish by mixing in the chocolate chips.
pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin/s and bake for about 25–40 minutes until firm in the centre (It takes a bit longer to cook through in a deep cake tin than 2 sandwich tins)
while the cake is cooling prepare the icing - cream the butter and peanut butter together until light and fluffy.
sieve and fold in the icing sugar
give it a final mix adding a few tbs of milk
grate/food process your chocolate chip cookies
when the cake is completely cool slice the cake in half horizontally (if you did not use sandwich tins) and spread 1/3 of the icing in the middle of the cake and sprinkle over a 1/3 of the cookie crumbs.
cover the top of the cake with the rest of the icing and finish with the remaining cookie crumbs. Slice, serve and enjoy with your feet up and a nice cup of tea.