Peanut Butter Cup Cake-2 layers of chocolate cake each topped with a smooth peanut butter filling and chocolate ganache! So easy to put together!

Ok, before everyone goes ballistic that I used a cake mix for this cake you need to understand something. I think it’s perfectly ok to use boxed mixes. I grew up on them and I was always grateful that my mom took the time to actually bake something for us girls. If we had a store bought cake, it had to come from an actual bakery (the grocery stores didn’t have the bakery section like they do today) or it was frozen. And we didn’t go to the bakery very often.

My mom was (and still is) a terrible cook. But she perfected the Duncan Hines pound cake recipes. Once every few months, she’d go on a baking spree and make several different flavors, then freeze them. My favorites were always the devil’s food and the lemon. If it wasn’t for those box mixes, I would have grown up in a cakeless house. No child should be deprived of cake.

I keep box mixes on hand in the pantry for those “Mom, I need a treat for school tomorrow” and it’s 10 o’clock at night. You do not want me measuring ingredients when I’m tired. There’s a good chance there might be an egg shell in that batter or that I use powdered sugar instead of flour (true story.)

Feel free to use a scratch recipe for the cake, you can double the recipe for this Mocha Fudge Cake or use the cake from this Death By Chocolate Cake. Or cheat and use a box mix, because this cake is all about the peanut butter filling and chocolate ganache.

The peanut butter filling is thicker than a frosting. It’s sturdy but still soft, like a cookie dough. It can hold the weight of the cake and ganache. It won’t smear into your ganache (as you’re spreading it) leaving clean layers and allowing both the flavors of the peanut butter and the chocolate ganache to stand separately while still complementing each other.

I promise I didn’t take a little sample from that bottom layer of filling (I made sure I left some in the bowl, AND I licked the beater!) I did however, eat that entire slice of cake after photographing it. And I enjoyed every single bite.

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Peanut Butter Cup Cake

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Ingredients

• 1 box devil's food cake mix (plus ingredients listed on box to make cake)
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

for peanut Butter Filling

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cream or milk

for ganache

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Prepare cake according to package directions adding 1 teaspoon of instant coffee granules (dry) to the batter. Bake as directed for a 2 layer cake. Let cool completely.

for the filling

1. Cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until all incorporated and smooth (will be thick)
2. Add in cream, a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition until desired consistency is reached. Filling will be stiff but smooth.
3. Divide filling in half and spread (press) filling onto top of each layer, just to the edge of each layer.

Prepare Ganache

1. Place chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl. Set aside. Heat cream either in the microwave for about 1 minute or on the stove until hot but not boiling. Pour heated cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir until chips are completely melted and chocolate is smooth.

Assemble the cake

1. Place one filling topped layer on cake plate and use half of the ganache, spreading evenly over top of filling. Place second layer on top and repeat with remaining ganache. Let ganache set before slicing cake.

Want more cake?

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Classic Yellow Cake from Add a Pinch
Pumpkin Spice Cake from I heart Eating
Blueberries and Cream Cake from Will Cook for Smiles