Yup

As I shared in a couple of previous posts, L's official birthday cake request this year was for a peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting. He's a sucker for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (and pretty much anything else that has the whole peanut-butter-and-chocolate-thing going on), so I wanted to do my best to recreate that in cake for for him. He was also adamant that it be a bundt cake. Clearly, he had a vision. I was picturing this dreamy little two-layer number, but since he was the birthday boy, I decided to play along. I'm so glad I did, because the way the cake looked with a thick layer of chocolate glaze drizzled all over was enough to make me weak in the knees.

Velvety Peanut Butter Cake with Semisweet Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book and Joy of Cooking

Cake Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup natural, unsalted peanut butter
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add softened butter, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for two minutes. Add eggs and beat on medium speed for an additional two minutes. Pour batter into a prepared bundt pan (greased and dusted lightly with flour), spreading as necessary.

Bake approximately 25-35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before turning out onto a cake stand or serving platter. Refrigerate before applying glaze.

Glaze Ingredients

• 7 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup water
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Place chocolate and water into a microwave-safe dish and heat in 10 second increments until the chocolate begins to melt. Add salt and cinnamon, stirring thoroughly. Begin adding butter, two or three pieces at a time, and stirring until the butter is melted. Repeat until all butter has been added and mixture is smooth and glossy. Continue stirring until the mixture is just slightly warm. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and slowly pour the glaze over the top. Use spoon as necessary to guide drips down the sides of the cake.