When planning Becky's birthday meal, my Mother-in-Law put me in charge of dessert. I don't quite have the type of patience and finesse required to decorate a cake (though, I'm working on it!), but I knew I wanted to do the best I could to create an amazing cake for the girl who is always baking for others. (We just got a cranberry nut banana bread this week that was yummy yum!)
We are a family that LOVES peanut butter and chocolate. LOVES. But Becky takes that love to a different level. So the flavor combo was a no brainer. I just had to find the perfect recipe.
I recently discovered Sally's Baking Addiction, and immediately knew that was where I would find my inspiration. Spend any amount of time on that blog, and you will quickly learn that Sally LOVES peanut butter. LOVES. I hit the jackpot when I found the recipe for Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting. Hooray!
Now, I really love baking cupcakes. In fact, I'm in that group of people that enjoys the idea of turning anything edible into a form of cupcake. However, for whatever reason, I had my heart set on baking a Birthday CAKE. So that's what I did.
Sally says that you can "pour the batter into a 8-inch or 9-inch square or round baking pan and bake for about 35 minutes." I made two batches for a layer cake, and only had to bake each round for 25-27 minutes. I whipped up 2 cups of heavy cream with a box of instant chocolate pudding to make a simple filling. Then I frosted the whole cake with Sally's Dark Chocolate Frosting.
You are all lovely. You are. But unfortunately, I don't yet love you enough to pause before dessert to take a photo. Instead, I waited a day and a half when we just had a little chunk of cake left and took a photo of THAT for you. Awful, I know. Forgive me?