Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

Ingredients

• (makes one two tier 20cm round cake)
• For the cakes
• 225g plain flour
• 350g caster sugar
• 85g cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 large free range eggs
• 250ml full fat milk milk
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 250ml boiling water
• For the frosting
• 175ml double cream, chilled
• 390g icing sugar, sifted
• 335g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 255g creamy peanut butter
• 1 heaped tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of coarse sea salt

Directions

1. For the cakes
2. Preheat the oven to 180C./350F.
3. Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins.
4. Place all of the ingredients, except the boiling water, into the bowl of a free standing mixer. Beat until well combined. You could also do this in a large mixing bowl with an electric whisk or wooden spoon.
5. Add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. The cake batter will look very liquid.
6. Divide the cake batter between the tins and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in their tins before icing.
8. For the frosting
9. Combine the double cream and 30g icing sugar in a large clean bowl and whisk until light, fluffy, stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overmix.
10. In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and peanut butter. (You could also do this with a wooden spoon and hand stirring). Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 45 seconds.
11. Add the remaining icing sugar to the bowl a little at a time, mixing slowly so it doesn�t all billow up. Once loosely combined, turn the speed to full and beat for 2 minutes.
12. Add the vanilla extract and salt, and continue to whip on high speed until very fluffy, about 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
13. Using a large spatula or metal spoon, gently fold one third of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture before adding the rest and folding carefully to combine.
14. To assemble
15. Place one cake on a serving plate or cake board, securing with a small amount of frosting. Spoon approximately one third of the frosting onto the cake and smooth over the whole surface, allowing some to spill over the edges.
16. Top with the second cake and spoon over another third of frosting, smoothing it flat to form the �crumb coat�. Pop in the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes or so, then apply practically all of the final third of the frosting to create a smooth layer. Reserve a little frosting to pipe round the top edges if you like then stud with pieces of peanut butter cup.
17. The frosting starts to soften if left out of the fridge for too long so serve immediately or keep somewhere cool.