Recipe Background
Some people think peanut butter and jelly is the perfect food combination. That's a pretty good guess, but as the Perfect Pair Sheet Cake proves, it's actually peanut butter and chocolate. The nutty creaminess of peanut butter in the thick and fluffy frosting is a match made in heaven with the moist chocolate cake. It really can't get much better than with the Perfect Pair Sheet Cake!
Some people think peanut butter and jelly is the perfect food combination. That's a pretty good guess, but as the Perfect Pair Sheet Cake proves, it's actually peanut butter and chocolate. The nutty creaminess of peanut butter in the thick and fluffy frosting is a match made in heaven with the moist chocolate cake. It really can't get much better than with the Perfect Pair Sheet Cake!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder not Dutch-processed
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk room temperature
For the peanut butter frosting:
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter melted
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar plus more, to taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt to taste
Optional, for topping:
- 1 cup peanut butter cups chopped
- caramel syrup or ice cream topping to taste
- creamy peanut butter to taste, melted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Generously coat a 12x17-inch half sheet pan or jelly roll pan with cooking spray.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, add 2 sticks of the unsalted butter, the water, and the cocoa powder and cook, while whisking, until the butter is melted.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, the baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and whisk to combine.
- Pour the warm butter mixture into the flour mixture and slowly whisk to combine until a very thick batter forms.
- In a medium bowl, add the eggs, the granulated sugar, and the brown sugar and whisk to combine. The egg mixture will be thick.
- Add 2 teaspoons of the vanilla to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
- Add the egg mixture to the batter and whisk until combined.
- Add the buttermilk to the batter and whisk to combine.
- Add the batter to the prepared sheet pan and spread it out evenly.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
- Transfer the cake pan from the oven to a wire rack to cool completely. You can also chill the cake in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
- In a large bowl, add the remaining softened butter and 1 1/2 cups of the melted peanut butter and use an electric handheld mixer on medium-high speed to beat until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add 3 cups of the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream, the remaining vanilla, and the extra salt to the peanut butter mixture and beat on low speed for about 20 seconds.
- Gradually increase the mixing speed to high and beat on high speed until a fluffy frosting forms, about 1 minute.
- Taste the frosting for seasoning and add more of the extra salt, as needed.
- If the frosting is too thick, add the extra heavy cream, a little at a time. If the frosting is too thin, add the extra confectioners' sugar, a little at a time.
- Spread the peanut butter frosting over the cooled cake.
- Sprinkle the cake with the chopped peanut butter cups.
- Drizzle the cake with the caramel syrup and the extra melted peanut butter.
- Slice and serve.
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