Monday, July 30, 2012

Peanut Butter Pound Cake

Secret Recipe Club


Peanut Butter Pound Cake

This month's recipe for the Secret Recipe Club comes from the blog Loving Life written by Kirstin.  What I enjoyed about reading through this blog is the personal aspect Kirstin brings to all of her posts.  Not only are there recipes, but also daily life details of one family from the Pacific Northwest.  I love learning about those who write the blogs and getting to know about their life and what is important to them.

I have shared on my blog a time or two that my husband's favorite dessert flavors are chocolate and peanut butter, in fact I have a chocolate and peanut butter category on my blog just so I can quickly find a recipe whenever he has a craving.  When I found this peanut butter pound cake at Loving Life I knew it was the recipe that I would be making for this month's reveal.
Peanut Butter Pound Cake

As pound cakes go this one fits the bill.  It is dense, but moist, and very full of flavor.  Alone it reminds me of a peanut butter cookie in cake form, but then the frosting is added leaving the eater with a peanut butter explosion of flavor...oh yes, it was tasty!  I didn't change a lot about the recipe.  I doubled the amount of vanilla, thinned the frosting so that it was more of a glaze, and added a chocolate drizzle on top for hubby.  I did find that it took 1 hour and 20 minutes to finish baking. This may be due to the size of my pan.  I used a large stoneware fluted pan that utilized "most" of my batter.  If you make this, be sure to begin checking your cake for doneness at about 55 minutes.  ENJOY!!
Peanut Butter Pound Cake

Peanut Butter Pound Cake
Recipe Source: Modified slightly from Loving Life

Cake:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup peanut butter
5 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla (original recipe called for 1)
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cups whipping cream or whole milk

Prepare a large tube pan or bundt pan and preheat the oven to 325 F.  Depending on the size of your pan you may have extra batter left over, use this for cupcakes.
In a large bowl or kitchen aide mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the brown sugar and peanut butter mixing until well combined.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.  Add in vanilla.
In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients and then about 1/3 of the milk.  Continue adding the dry ingredients and the milk alternating until they are both added and well combined.
Fill the prepared pan about 3/4 full (remember you may have extra batter left over depending on the size of your pan).  Bake for 60-90 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  
Cool cake for 10 minutes then turn out to finish cooling.  When completely cooled frost with frosting and top with chocolate drizzle or shavings.
Frosting/Glaze: 
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cups peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk (more or less depending on how thick or thin you want it. I used close to 7 tablespoons to get the consistency I wanted.)

In a kitchen aide bowl or medium bowl with an electric mixer combine the butter and peanut butter until well mixed.  Add in the powdered sugar and milk until the desired consistency is reached.  
**I should have cut the original recipe in half because I ended up with a lot of glaze, but it was tasty and with some additional powdered sugar to thicken it up it tasted great on graham crackers!**
Chocolate Drizzle:
1/2 chocolate chips
1 teaspoon oil
Melt together over a double boiler over low heat until well combined.  Drizzle over frosted cake.

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49 comments:

  1. Ummm wow. That looks like it could possibly be the best poundcake ever!

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  2. Love that peanut butter w/chocolate combo! Visiting from Group D...

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  3. This looks heavenly! I love peanut butter and chocolate!

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  4. yum!!! I am a HUGE peanut butter fan, this is totally up my alley! Looks awesome :)

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  5. Holy cow this bundt looks amazing!! I want to dive right in. Wow!! And I had your blog this month. Loved looking through your site and making a little something ;) Happy reveal day!

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  6. This look amazing. And not as rich as the bundt I made this month! Yum!

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  7. Gorgeous pound cake and great combo of flavours!

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  8. WOW! That cake looks FABULOUS! Such a pretty topping too! GREAT SCR post! Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Group D

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  9. Like your husband, chocolate & peanut butter are favorites here too. Your cake looks and sounds wonderful. Great SRC post.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my group "A" SRC entry: Double Chocolate Mousse Cake.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  10. YUM! What a fabulous cake! I just love peanut butter and chocolate together. :-)

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  11. Oh, you had me at peanut butter. I've never had it in a cake,holy cow this sounds and looks amazing!

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    1. Debbi, I just checked out your blog and will be making the peanut butter chocolate truffles ASAP!! Wow, they look awesome :)

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  12. Woah nelly that looks delicious!!

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  13. Thank you everyone for the kind comments, if you give this recipe a try please let me know. I would love to hear how you liked it!

    Jenn

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  14. So glad you liked it...When I used a basic bundt pan it was never big enough for the batter...I finally had to buy a larger tube pan and it was perfect...I agree...testing for doneness and not just assuming it is done is vital...(C: I like the idea of thinning the frosting a bit....your pics looked great...love the chocolate drizzle. I've done shaved chocolate, but I think I'd like a drizzle better. I love how people add their own touches to recipes you've made and you learn how to change them up a bit if desired.

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    1. I think I will also try shaved chocolate next time, because there WILL be a next time!

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  15. Oh My Goodness, I am in LOVE with this recipe. Of course, I love any recipe that has peanut butter and chocolate in it. : ) I pinned this, and will definitely be making it soon!

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    1. April, let me know what you think when you make it.

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  16. There is nothing better than peanut butter and chocolate and this combo looks awesome. I love being one of the newest members of SRC, look forward to sharing with you!

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  17. Oh my, a peanut butter cookie in cake form?! Sign me up! Great choice for SRC!

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  18. Holy moly! This cake looks aaaaawesome!! Great job! :

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  19. i'll be honest - i'm not the biggest peanut butter fan. but your photos look great and the cake looks very moist and dense. good job!

    happy belated SRC reveal day darling!

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    1. Maybe you will be a convert if you try this recipe :)

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  20. Oh wow! This cake looks amazing! Peanuts and chocolate are definitely one of my favourite flavour combinations. :)

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  21. That looks delicious! Peanut butter and chocolate are my weakness and they are both part of this cake. Delicious !

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  22. Wow, it looks awesome.. Peanut butter is not really popular in my country, but I have to try this!

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  23. oh my! That looks divine! I love anything peanut butter!!

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  24. I made this tonight and it was super dry! Any idea what I did wrong? Flavor was great and glaze was perfect.

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    1. Heather, I am sorry to hear your cake was dry. I know that my cake was very dense which is common for cakes made with butter instead of oil like boxed cakes are. Homemade cakes are also easily over baked, so my first thought is that it may have been baked too long. Another idea could be that your oven cooks on the hot side. I hope if you try it again you have more success.

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  25. I made this last night. Not very happy with the outcome. It tasted like a "stale" cake would.....dry. Alot of work for the end product. Sorry.

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    1. Anonymous, I am sorry your cake was dry. There is no reason to apologize because your comment was positive for the recipe. It happens to all of us.

      Another person posted that their cake was also on the dry side. It could be that your cake was baked too long or that your oven is off. When I think of stale I think of lacking flavor, did you have the correct measurements of peanut butter, salt, and vanilla? Also, cakes baked with butter and no oil are typically dense and more dry than those baked with a vegetable oil.

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  26. I love anything with peanut butter. My older sister and younger brother are both allergic to nuts, so growing up peanut butter was a very special treat. I still think of it that way haha. I really like your blog. Just happened to stubmle onto it.

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  27. This look amazing. And not as rich as the bundt I made this month! Yum!

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  28. Wow, it looks awesome.. Peanut butter is not really popular in my country, but I have to try this!

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  29. I made this for my own birthday. It's the best cake I've ever had in entire life. I swear. Omg. (I blogged it here.)

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  30. WOW!! This cake is delicious! I made it for Easter & was a great hit. Matter as fact this recipe was enough to make 2 Bundt cakes. Going to make another one tomorrow.

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  31. This cake was really good! I made it to take to work for a coworker's birthday and the entire cake was gone! Thank you for sharing!

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  32. I made this cake today and when I went to check it at the 60 minute mark, it had completely fallen. Caved right in. And I had not opened the door until then either. ON the plus side, the cooled, fallen cake was still yummy!

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    1. Oh, man that is a bummer your cake fell. I'm glad it was still delicious!

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  33. That looks good!.. I’m a peanut butter fanatic and I cannot wait to make this. It’s fat and calorie free, right? Thanks for the recipe

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  34. Do you have tobuse cake flour? Any other substitute possible?

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  35. I am definitely making this on Sunday, especially since I have pretty much all the ingredients already. And I'm not sure if I'll be sharing ;)

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  36. I'm making two of these tomorrow night for Thanksgiving. Do you think it would be best to make two separate batches or can I mix a double batch together? I'm not the most experienced baker. :) I'm soooo excited to try it!

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  37. Can I use cake flour?

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