Marbelous Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze

I made this last month.... and misplaced the recipe! Alas, I have found it and will never let it go. If you want the printable recipe you can go here. I found this in Better Homes and Garden magazine and it just called my name... I can hear it calling yours too!

I'm going to take you thru it and tell you what I would have done different if I had been paying more attention to the recipe. :)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. This seems to be the most difficult for me. I have no idea how many times I've finished my batter and realized the oven isn't preheated. Don't be like me.

Spray a bundt pan and set it aside. Grab a bowl and mix 2 cups all-purpose flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp cinnamon.



Grab another bowl (yes, this recipe is worth the extra dishes) and beat 1/2 c softened unsalted butter and then add 1 1/4 c granulated sugar and beat again until fluffy.



Add an egg and beat, scraping the sides. Repeat.

Raw eggs are so gross. It's amazing that I forget about this fact 10 minutes later and can't wait to eat whatever cake/cookie batter I am preparing.



Now toss in 3/4 c of sour cream and 1 tsp of vanilla. It may look like I have more vanilla because I'm a bit obsessed with vanilla. I love vanilla.

I wonder if I could even tell the difference if there was no vanilla.

Don't answer that.

Beat it again until its all mixed up.



The batter is pretty thin and slightly weird looking.



Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low or mix by hand. I mix by hand at this point because I get a little crazy with the mixer.



Pour in 1/3 c of milk and combine.



Mix in the remainder of the flour but don't overmix it. We still have another step so don't worry about the bits and pieces not quite combined.

Now take half of the batter and put it back in the original flour bowl.



To that one add 1/2 c of creamy peanut butter. Feel the anticipation building!



In the other bowl add 3 oz of melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate. I melted the chocolate in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring in between. When the chocolate is almost completely melted let it sit for a moment and the last chips will melt on their own.

Of all the classic pairings I think peanut butter and chocolate must be at the top.

I have fond memories of eating peanut butter out of the jar while using a chocolate bar as an edible spoon.



Now that I'm all grown-up I just throw the chocolate chips directly into the jar and use a real spoon.

Alternately drop spoonfuls of batter into the pan. Run a knife or metal spatula thru to mix or marbelize the batters... but don't overmix.

*This is where I would have changed my technique. I should have done like 3 times the amount of spoonfuls. I didn't and ended up with sections of cake that were mostly chocolate and mostly peanut butter. The result is having to eat at least 2 pieces of cake in each sitting to get the proper balance of flavors. Sometimes you just have to improvise.



Smooth out the top. If the whole cake looked like this it would have been overmixed.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. I baked for just under 40 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes and then flip onto a wire rack to cool down to room temperature.

Now let's whip up the caramel sauce...it's really easy.



Melt 1/4 c unsalted butter over low-med heat in a small heavy-bottomed sauce pan.

So many good things in life start with butter.



Stir in 1/4 c granulated sugar and 1/4 c packed brown sugar and bring to boil. Don't stop stirring!

If you are having a hard time with the sugar melting down (and subsequently boiling) add a dash of your 1/2 c whipping cream. This will really help break down the sugar.



Throw in the remainder of the whipping cream and return to a boil. Keep stirring while it boils for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 1/2-3/4 tsp of sea salt.

If you don't have sea salt you are looking for something that is nice and light and flakey. If you use kosher salt make sure it all gets melted down and if you use table salt you need to cut down the measurement.

Let your caramel cool.



This is what the cake looked like when I didn't have the patience to let the caramel cool. I made the caramel the next day and wanted to eat the darn cake.

I actually like the idea of thoroughly coating the cake with the glaze at this point. Next time I'll do this and use a pastry brush to get every inch. I think it will help lock in moisture and gives it a nice sheen. This cake was super moist regardless.



This is what you get when you wait for it too cool properly.

I didn't add the extra salt on top because I was serving it to kids who can be finicky. I would definitely do it for adults. I really think it adds a nice touch and added a pinch of salt to the rest of the cake once I had divied some out to the kids.

You will have extra sauce and the recipe suggests serving it with the cake. I meant to but I got sidetracked.

By sidetracked I mean that I ate it with a spoon, dipped pretzels in it, dipped fingers in it, spoke lovingly to it and then nearly licked the pan.

Enjoy!