Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

Published March 13, 2020

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
2½ hours
Rating
4(603)
Comments
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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.

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Ingredients

Yield:One 10-inch cake

    For the Peanut Butter Cake

    • ¾cup/180 grams smooth peanut butter (not natural)
    • ½cup/115 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
    • cup/75 grams light or dark brown sugar
    • 1large egg, at room temperature
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 3tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • ¼teaspoon fine sea salt

    For the Chocolate Bundt

    • 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
    • teaspoons baking powder
    • ¾teaspoon baking soda
    • ½teaspoon fine sea salt

    For the Peanut Butter Glaze

    • 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

    For the Chocolate Glaze

    • cup/80 milliliters heavy cream
    • cup/55 grams chopped bar semisweet chocolate
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. Step 9

    Pour about ⅔ 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

Ratings

4 out of 5
603 user ratings
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Comments

It is great when people make the recipe and then comment on their results, instead of useless editorial quips about calories, butter, blah blah.....Using tips from others, I subsituted coffee for the water, sour cream for the buttermilk, and used all butter instead of butter and oil. I had an oversized bundt pan which accomodated all of the batter, and filled it as stated in the recipe. Perfect! Great recipe, thank you to all who prepared and commented with feedback.

Looking at the food stylist's photo, I see that the peanut butter tube is at the TOP of the cake. My son just realized that in order to get the peanut butter tube at the top, you have to do the opposite of what the recipe says: put 1/3 of the batter in the pan, then the peanut butter, then the other 2/3 of the batter. That way, when you invert the pan to cool and serve, the peanut butter will be closer to the top of the finished cake. Delicious nonetheless!!

For the peanut butter step, I used a cookie scoop! So much easier, less waste, no clean up.

I made this over the weekend and although I didn’t mind all the steps, I was surprised at all of the extremely positive reviews. I found the depth was lacking. It was good don't get me wrong but I expected more from the receipe. 4 stars at best from me. I love cake and cookies and care rarely pass these things up if they are sitting on my counter. I've ignored it for two days straight. Not work my precious calories. Even my kids have passed on it for a popsicle.

Quite delicious, but what a trek. Uses up a ton of bowls and utensils. Even following others' suggestions, I still had a horrific time removing the cake from the pan. The recommendation to use a cookie scoop was terrific. If I ever dare make it again, I'll skip the glazes in favor of a dusting of powdered sugar. The glazes are a bit too much.

USE PAM WITH FLOUR!!!! I have been sending my kids bundt cakes for their birthdays ever since they started leaving the nest And I've become obsessed with this one. I made it for the first time the other day and just after I popped in the oven I decided to read the comments. Saw all the ones about how it didn't come out of the pan and waited nervously for it to bake as I had used the method suggested, oil and cocoa powder. Sure enough, It failed to release but was absolutely delicious! Undaunted, I decided to use my tried and true method of using Pam with flour and the cake came out beautifully. The recipe makes way more than my pan can handle so I make three mini cakes in small Pyrex dishes with the leftover batter... some for me and some for them, what can be better? also tried the ice cream scoop method of placing the peanut butter in the batter and it worked great! highly recommend this deliciousness!

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