I made myself a cake to celebrate the fact that I have 5,000 followers!

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

I am so amazed that what was once an idea I was embarrassed to try is now a hobby that I love so much! I feel blessed by all the support and new friends I have made thanks to Mikey’s In My Kitchen!

Mikey doesn’t like peanut butter, but It is my absolute favorite. So I decided I would make something that I love. I don’t normally choose chocolate cake over white cake, but this just seemed too good to pass up. And I’m so glad I made it.

This cake is soooo rich (but in a good way) and the peanut butter frosting is out of this world. I could have eaten the whole bowl with a spoon!

It’s a bit time consuming to make, but worth it in the end. Especially if you make it over the course of a couple days.

I am so honored by all of the kindness and support I’ve received from friends, family and followers around the world! There is nothing I love more than baking and cooking and it has been so fun to watch my blog progress over the past couple years. From the photos (which started out soooooo bad) to the content, I have been given so much constructive criticism from people, which means so much to me!

Thanks for sticking with me through this journey of my life through food. Thanks for reading through my rants, stories and opinions from things like food and drinks to cats and weather. I feel blessed to have the time and means to bake and cook for the people in my life! It has been such a learning experience for me as I struggled through figuring out how to upload pictures and add links to my blog and take pictures of my food when all I wanted to do was eat it and be done. There is so much that goes on that is way less glamorous than my blog may at times seem. The kitchen behind me is a disaster, I have chocolate on my face and flour in my hair. There are dishes that take hours to wash, and sometimes I burn things and then cry. But through it all, I have found that it is worth the work when I publish a recipe and receive sweet comments from my followers out there.

Mikey has been my cheerleader from the very beginning. He encouraged me to start the blog and always gives me that extra nudge I need to keep baking. Mikey will often tell people about my blog when I typically don’t because I feel awkward and he thinks it’s “cool” which usually results in me convincing people it’s a weird hobby. But it makes me happy that he is so proud. He is my editor and my #1 fan and I would not still be doing this if it weren’t for him.

I hope you enjoy this celebratory cake as much as I did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

2 1/2 Cups + 1 Tablespoon Flour

3 Cups Granulated Sugar

1 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

1 Tablespoon Baking Soda

1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

3 Eggs, Room Tempreature

1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk, Room Temperature

1 1/2 Cups Strong Black Coffee, Hot

3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

4 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

For the Frosting:

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter

10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room Temp

1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Heavy Cream

For the Ganache:

8 Ounces Semisweet Chocolate, Finely Chopped

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper, flour sides and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Once combined, add dry flour mixture and mix until well combined for two minutes at medium speed. Scrape sides and beat for another 20 seconds.

Divide batter evenly between three cake pans and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate pans after 20 minutes and continue to bake for about 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 20 minutes and then carefully invert them onto racks to complete cooling.

Make the frosting while the cakes cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt. Mix until creamy, scraping down the sides and bottom as often as needed until completely combined and fluffy.

Once the cakes have cooled you can begin the assembly. Place one cake on your desired cake plant and level off any dome shape the cake may have. Place about 1 cup of frosting on the cake and spread evenly up to the edges. Place the next layer on top and repeat with about 1 cup of frosting. Add the final cake and make sure that the sides and top are even. Use a serrated knife to even out any uneven layers or the top of the cake. Use about a cup of frosting on the top of the cake and then evenly spread a super thin layer of frosting on the sides of the cake. I call the first layer my “crumb layer” Don’t worry about crumbs. Once fully frosted with a thin layer, place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to let the frosting harden on the cake. Remove and finish frosting with the rest of your peanut butter frosting. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to set.

For the Ganache you will place chocolate chunks in a glass bowl and heat the cream over the stove until it just reaches a boil. Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and let sit one minute. Whisk milk into chocolate until fully incorporated and let cool and thicken slightly.

Once cake and ganache have cooled, pour ganache slowly over the center of the cake. Being patient while it slowly makes its way down the edges of the cake.

I then placed the cake back into the refrigerator to let the ganache harden.

Once time to serve, let cake come up to room temp for about 20 minutes. Use a long sharp knife to cut and run under hot water to help with easy slicing through the layer of ganache and frosting.

Serve with a giant glass of milk and enjoy!

I searched through about 20 recipes until I finally decided to make this cake from The Brown Eyed Baker. She has the most amazing blog and I am constantly drooling over her desserts and inspired by her food!