Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
This cake version of a peanut butter cup boasts moist devil’s food cake wrapped around a soft, peanut buttery cake core. The peanut butter cake batter will stay nicely centered if you enlist the help of a resealable plastic bag or pastry bag to pipe it into a ring in the middle of the batter, but you don’t need to be so exacting. If that feels too fancy, spooning it in will yield equally delicious results. The cake is nicely sweet on its own, but take it over the top by adding peanut butter and chocolate glazes. Keep the glazes thin so that they’re fluid enough not only to evenly coat the surface and run own the sides of the cake, but also so they combine and marble together to make Instagram-worthy swirls.
- Total:
- Serves: 10 persons
Ingredients
- ¾cup/180 grams smooth peanut butter (not natural)
- ½cup/115 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
- ⅓cup/75 grams light or dark brown sugar
- 1large egg, at room temperature
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1cup/95 grams unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pan
- 1cup/240 milliliters boiling water
- 1cup/240 milliliters cold buttermilk
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
- ½cup/120 milliliters neutral oil, like vegetable or canola
- 2cups/400 grams granulated sugar
- 4large eggs, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼teaspoons baking powder
- ¾teaspoon baking soda
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼cup/60 milliliters heavy cream, plus more as needed
- ¼cup/60 grams smooth peanut butter (not natural)
- ½cup/60 grams confectioners’ sugar
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters heavy cream
- ⅓cup/55 grams chopped bar semisweet chocolate
Instructions
Step 1
Make the peanut butter filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the peanut butter, cream cheese and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.Step 2
Add the egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed to combine. Scrape the mixture into a large resealable plastic bag (or pastry bag) and set aside. (Alternatively, you can scrape the mixture into a medium bowl.) If necessary, rinse and dry the paddle attachment and bowl before proceeding.Step 3
Make the cake: Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick spray. Add a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder into the pan and tap it around until the pan is fully coated in cocoa.Step 4
Place 1 cup/95 grams cocoa powder in a medium heat-safe bowl, and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk well to combine, then add the buttermilk and whisk to combine.Step 5
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, oil and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.Step 6
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed until fully incorporated and scraping the bowl between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix on low speed to combine.Step 7
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine. Add about a third of this mixture to the mixer and mix on low speed to combine.Step 8
Add half of the cocoa-buttermilk mixture to the mixer and mix on low speed to combine. Continue to alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients until the batter is uniformly combined.Step 9
Pour about 2/3 of the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Cut a 1-inch opening from one of the bottom corners of the bag and squeeze the peanut butter filling into the pan, making a ring in the center of the chocolate batter aiming not to touch the outer edge or inner tube of the pan. Alternatively, you can gently spoon the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate batter, aiming to create a ring shape.Step 10
Pour the remaining chocolate cake batter on top of the peanut butter filling and gently spread into an even layer. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour or up to 1 hour 10 minutes.Step 11
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then use a small offset spatula to gently loosen the cake at the edges and around the inner tube, and invert it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.Step 12
Make the peanut butter glaze: Heat the cream in a small pot to a simmer. In a small heat-safe bowl, mix the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar to combine, then add the hot cream, and mix until smooth. It should be thick but still loose enough to drizzle easily.Step 13
Make the chocolate glaze: Heat the cream in the small pot to a simmer. Place the chocolate in a medium heat-safe bowl, then pour the hot cream over it. Stir until the mixture is totally smooth. It will be thinner than the peanut butter glaze.Step 14
Place the cake on the cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Spoon half of the chocolate glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides, then spoon half of the peanut butter glaze on top. Repeat this process with the remaining glaze, and use the back of the spoon to gently swirl where the two glazes meet in a few spots. Gently remove the cake and transfer to a serving platter. Allow the glaze to set at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.