Easter Dessert – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake

My husband absolutely LOVES Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  I swear if you could make a meal out of them, I’d almost venture to say he’d be in heaven.

I’m kind of at the opposite end of that spectrum… I’m not crazy about chocolate & peanut butter together.  Really I think peanut butter only belongs on toast or PB&J sandwiches.  I know, where’s my sense of adventure?!?!

Well the week before Easter I was perusing through Sweet Tooth blog and found a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake.  I knew that we had to have this, and yes I ate it.  My opinion… definitely NOT Bad!

It was even fun letting Tbug help me decorate it. She wanted to help more but the night I baked it, I just wanted it done. I was tired! So the next morning I iced it and let her decorate it.

Have I ever told you my {step}daughter has a sweet tooth? She can eat a meal, leave some because she’s full and yet anyone says anything about dessert and she’s ready to eat again. We finally had to sit down and talk to her about that… It’s getting better.

But that’s beside the point :).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake (recipe adapted from Sweet Tooth)

CHOCOLATE CAKE:
1 box Devils Food Cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
8 oz sour cream
1 small box chocolate instant pudding mix
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag mini Reese’s peanut butter cups (for decoration)
1 can cream cheese frosting (for outside of cake) — I made my own butter cream icing.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING (for filling):
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

For cake:
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees
– Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, water, sour cream, pudding mix, and chocolate chips. (I think leaving out the chocolate chips would have helped make the cake not as overwhelmingly rich. But if you love your chocolate, keep em in!) {We used half a bag, extra richness but not too much}
– Divide batter evenly into 2 well greased round 9″ cake pans
– Bake for 30-35 minutes and cool completely.

For frosting:
– Blend together sugar, milk, butter, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. (Add more milk for a thinner frosting and more sugar if you want it thicker)

For assembly:
– Cut each cooled cakes with a serrated knife into halves, creating 4 layers
– Use 1/3 of peanut butter frosting between each layer
– Cover the top and sides of the cake with cream cheese frosting {This is where I used my butter cream}
– Decorate as you wish with peanut butter cups! I cut peanut butter cups in half to create the border around the top.