Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake – moist chocolate cake paired with peanut butter frosting and filling, topped with drippy chocolate ganache and homemade peanut butter balls, aka buckeyes. The ultimate layer cake for chocolate and peanut butter lovers!
Last week I shared one of our Christmas traditions with a recipe that came from Mr. Sellman’s side of the family – these super delish Pie Crust Cookies – oh my goodness are they good. While definitely hard to beat, I wanted to give a little love to a tradition that comes from my side of the family. My family is a tad more chocolate focused when it comes to Christmas goodies. As in, we dip anything and everything into chocolate and viola, Christmas dessert! Pretzels, raisins, nuts, Oreos and on and on. All this dipping started back in the 80’s when we were kids and the list of things we wanted to smother in chocolate seemed to grow from year to year. The one staple that always made the must-dip-in-chocolate list? Peanut Butter Balls!
My mother, two sisters and I made chocolate covered peanut butter balls every. single. year. growing up. Ah, the memories of sticky hands from rolling peanut butter into tiny balls and then hovering around the double boiler with my sisters, dipping our peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate… hoping they didn’t fall off the toothpick and drown in the chocolate. Inevitably, someone would complain that the other peanut butter balls were too messy. I cannot confirm nor deny that crazy person was me — let’s just say thank goodness we’re sisters and the love is unconditional. I love you girls!
A few years ago, it came to my attention that some of you know these little guys as Buckeyes. I think they’ll forever be Peanut Butter Balls to me. But whatever you call them, they are delicious! How can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate? Today’s cake captures all of those flavors and all those memories in one – somewhat outrageous and definitely chocolate smothered – cake recipe.
It all starts with the peanut butter balls. From there, we move on to a rich chocolate cake, filled and frosted with a creamy peanut butter buttercream. Then comes the chocolate ganached poured over the top and drizzled down the sides. Eight swirls of frosting create a decorative border and act as teeny tiny pedestals for the actual peanut butter balls. Because there are so many different components this cake, I went with simple recipes. So even though there are numerous steps, they are all relatively straight forward and can be broken up over several days to fit with your busy schedule. Here’s how it all comes together….
Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake
Moist chocolate cake paired with peanut butter frosting and filling, topped with drippy chocolate ganache and homemade peanut butter balls, aka buckeyes. The ultimate layer cake for chocolate and peanut butter lovers!
- Yield: One 8" Round Cake (3 layers)
- Category: ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽
Ingredients
For the Peanut Butter Balls (makes about 24)
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 pound powdered sugar
- 6 ounces chocolate chips
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 1 cup boiling water
For the Peanut Butter Frosting:
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
- 9 tablespoons milk
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
For the Chocolate Ganache:
- 6 ounces chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
Instructions
Make the Peanut Butter Balls:
- Using an electric mixer, blend peanut butter and butter together until smooth.
- Add vanilla and then powdered sugar. Mix to combine.
- Roll peanut butter into round balls and place onto a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until cold.
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler over low heat or in a microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each heating.
- Using a toothpick, dip peanut butter balls into chocolate to coat. Place back onto parchment paper. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to use or eat.
Make the Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a kettle of water on to boil. Butter and lightly flour three 8″ round pans.
- In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add in eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and espresso powder. Mix on medium speed for two minutes.
- Add boiling water and mix to combine.
- Divide batter evenly between three prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cake is done with a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes before inverting cakes from pans. Cool completely before assembling cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate if not using until tomorrow.
Make the Peanut Butter Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and peanut butter on medium speed until well combined.
- Add vanilla and salt. Mix again.
- Mix in powdered sugar in several batches.
- Add milk and whip until fluffy.
Make the Chocolate Ganache:
- Place chocolate chips into medium bowl and set aside. Heat cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat just until it almost starts to simmer. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let sit for about 5 minutes and then stir with a wooden spoon until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Stir in corn syrup.
Assemble the Cake:
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with one cup of frosting and set aside.
- Place one layer of cake onto serving plate or cake stand and top with about one cup of frosting. Repeat with second cake layer, more frosting and then last cake layer. Crumb coat and frost cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until frosting is set. Drizzle chocolate ganache over the top with small drips overflowing the edge. Smooth as desired with offset spatula. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ganache is set.
- Using your reserved frosting, pipe 8 small swirls of frosting evenly spaced around the edge of cake. Top each swirl with a peanut butter ball.
Notes
- Store in refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY
Hot Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcakes
Eggnog Cake
Cranberry Orange Cake
Walnut Cake
This is such a great idea for a cake! We are going to tackle making peanut butter balls this weekend but I wonder if I could convince my household we need this more!?
Here’s hoping for both!
Definitely wish I had a thick slice of this peanut butter ball cake to devour right now.. I can only imagine how delicious it tasted. Pinned!
Thank you Thalia!
Drooling over that cake! I have to try making one!
Definitely give it a try Dane!
Thanks for the idea! I used your icing and ganache recipe and made this cake for my husband’s 34th birthday yesterday! It was a hit! Wish I could post a pic!
Glad you liked it Becky! Happy birthday to your husband! Post a pic on Instagram and tag @thecakeblog so we can see!
Oh man, this is the cake for me. Buckeyes are the best!
Buckeyes are the best! And so addictive too!
Carrie, you have such beautiful desserts! I am a “buckeye” and I have to make this cake! My mom made the pie crust cookies from leftover pie crust dough, and my sibs and I waited like little vultures for them to cool when they were done. It is nice to see the traditions carried on.
Thank you! I love that your family also makes pie crust cookies… it’s such a fun tradition. Hope you enjoy the buckeye cake!
I will use the Buckeye Peanut Butter Balls for next year Ohio State Buckeye parties and the cake for our next National Championship. Wish I would have discovered the cake recipe for this year!
This would be perfect for Ohio State football tailgating! Although I’m secretly hoping my Aggies will be in the next National Championship. Enjoy!
Cake looks lovely, cant wait to try it. Just wanted to ask, is butter not needed for the chocolate cake bit?
Good question! No, this chocolate cake is actually an oil based recipe. It has a lighter, fluffier texture than a traditional butter based cake. Hope you like it!
Can I make the buckeyes ahead and freeze them? I know chocolate “weeps” when frozen and thawed. Am I able to make the frosted cake ahead of time and not add the ganache til later? Thanks Carrie.
Growing up we always froze buckeyes, but they do tend to weep some when thawed. You can also keep them in the refrigerator for awhile, so that may be a better option for you.
For the cake itself, you can definitely frost it in advance and add the ganache later. You can also put the entire thing together and store in the refrigerator for a day or so. The icing keeps everything inside nice and moist. Enjoy!
I made this cake for my son’s birthday, per his request, and it is by far the best cake I have ever tasted! His birthday was Jan 28th and I’ve made the cake 6 time since (2 of the 6 were cupcakes)…not sure that I will post a picture of the next cake I make.
So glad to hear you liked it Sue! Post a pic to Instagram and tag @thecakeblog so we can see!
When my son was about 10, I found the peanut butter ball recipe, (our recipe didn’t call for dipping in chocolate though).
My son enjoyed them so much, he decided he could make them himself. At 32 he still makes them occasionally.
I’m going to have to try your recipe just for him!
This cake was a hit for my mom’s birthday! My buckeyes were too big for the cake, but we just had them as a “side”. Thank you for sharing this recipe and your story.
Glad everyone enjoyed it Theresa! Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Carrie! This cake is beautiful! I was just curious if I could use a boxed cake mix for this? I want to make it for Thanksgiving but I have so many other things to make/do I was hoping I could cheat with the box mix and save myself some time.
Good questions Patti! There is always too much to do around the holidays. You could certainly swap out the cake for a mix to make life easier. Go for a Devil’s Food cake mix to get that deep chocolate color and flavor. Just follow the mix directions and bake in two pans, not in three pans as I did above. The icing and ganache will make the whole thing taste homemade. 😉
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi! I was just wondering why we add boiling water to the chocolate cake please?
Thank you
Cocoa powder tends to clump and the hot water helps ensure the cocoa is evenly distributed in the batter. There is also a school of thought that boiling water helps intensify the flavor of the cocoa powder.
OH, I have got to try this…I am so stuck on peanut butter and chocolate right now..and No! I’m not pregnant… LOL!!
Carrie, do you sift your flour prior to measuring? I’m concerned about texture since the recipe doesn’t call for cake flour. Thank you!
No, this is a very forgiving cake recipe. The cocoa powder and boiling water create a very tender and moist cake, even without sifting and cake flour. Hope you enjoy!
I made this cake tonight and the batter is very thin (liqudy) after i added the water. Is that th correct consistency? Thank you
Yes, this is a very thin batter but it bakes up beautifully!
I can’t wait to try this cake. I did have one question though. Did you use dark, semi sweet or milk chocolate for the peanut butter balls and ganache?
I used semi sweet chocolate but feel free to use what you enjoy most!
I’m so excited to make this cake! What is the quantity of ingredients in ml and g instead of cups?
Here are some tools for translating our recipes to metric. Hope it helps!
https://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions
https://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/flour_volume_weight.html
I’m making this for my moms birthday. There is nothing more she loves then Chocolate and peanut butter. (Besides me). Do you have any tips or advice for making this cake??
My best advice is to break this project up over a day or two, so that you don’t feel crunched for time. The peanut butter balls can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. You can also bake the cake in advance. Just wrap the individual layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Hope your mother loves it – you too!
Can you tell me how many cups of powdered sugar goes into the frosting?
Sure Amanda! 1.5 pounds of powdered sugar comes out to roughly 5.5 cups. You can always adjust this up or down a tad to get your preferred sweetness and consistency.
Hi Carrie,
This cake look so delicious! My 3year old wants me to bake it for her Birthday. I have a few questions before I make it. Can I substitute corn syrup with sugar and water mixture? Also, Can I substitute butter for vegetable oil?
Thank you for this recipe!!
If you’d prefer not to use corn syrup, it’s best just to omit it. It simply gives the chocolate ganache a nice shine and some forgiveness. So you’ll be fine it skip it.
For the oil to butter swap, I would not recommend making this substitution. A butter based cake is prepared using a different method than the one above.
Hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday!
Hi there,
I’ve been following several threads on Instagram and want to get going with making a drip cake!
My one concern is the buttercream! Does this not go soft when left a room temperature to serve? Is this what is supposed to happen?
I just have concerns if I make it in advance by the time I come to deliver/serve it the buttercream will have softened and on transport may be disturbed!
Cat
At room temperature, the buttercream will be somewhat soft and completely delicious. Whereas it has less flavor when eaten cold. The chocolate ganache will become soft as well, but it will stay put. If you’re concerned about transporting it – it can be a little stressful to transport a cake – just keep it cold until you’re ready to leave. It will be nice and solid for the ride. =)
Hi! I’d like to make this cake for Christmas. For how many people does it suit? I need at least 15 servings.
Thank you for the recipe!
(And excuse me for my poor English)
A Belgian girl
Generally speaking, you can get 12 good sized servings from an 8″ round cake. This one is very rich, so you could try to stretch it to 15. Especially if you’ll have additional desserts to offer.
What kind of peanut butter should be used for this? Natural (100% peanuts) or processed, like Kraft etc?
I used a smooth and creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy.