Abstract:

Baking a proper layer cake is a big undertaking for me. Up until a few years ago, I couldn't even do a pan of chocolate chip cookies properly. Nonetheless, with it being my wife's birthday and all, I decided to cook out of my comfort zone; and I figured if I was gonna do it, I'd do it with gusto. The toils of my labor are two decadent layers of cake that are chock full of cocoa and dark chocolate; separated by a layer of salty sweet peanut butter buttercream frosting. The last of the chocolate comes in the form of a peanut butter chocolate ganache coup de grace enrobing the entire cake. Chocolate overload? Maybe. Crazy good? Definitely.

Purpose:

I know y'all can read a cookbook as well as I can, and I think that's why so much of what I put up here is original content. Sometimes though, a guy's gotta know when to swallow his pride and read a map. Cake baking is my road trip to BFE, and if I don't have something to guide me, I get lost pretty quick. I don't bake fancy-schmancy layer cakes often, but when I do, it's usually with good reason, and I most certainly want it to count for something. It was my wife's birthday recently (Good reason: Check), and she has a penchant that's borderline obsessive for peanut butter and chocolate (Make it count: Check). With all the criteria met, I dug thru my recipe collection to find all that is the embodiment of the two great tastes that taste great together; with the goal of getting as much peanut butter and chocolate as humanly possible into her birthday cake.