Peanut Butter Pound Cake
Submitted by tblasco
Peanut butter Bundt pound cake glazed with semi-sweet chocolate ganache. A dense buttery pound cake that bakes from a cold-oven start, then gets enrobed in glossy chocolate.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
85 minREADY
130 minPeanut butter pound cake is the heavyweight Bundt that turns the classic peanut-butter-and-chocolate combination into a sliceable showpiece. A whole cup of peanut butter gets creamed right into the butter, giving the cake a dense, almost fudgy crumb that holds its shape under a thick coating of chocolate ganache.
The cold-oven start is the unusual technique that makes this work. Most cakes go into a preheated oven, but this batter is so heavy it needs the gradual warming to rise evenly. As the oven climbs from cold to 325°F (160°C), the leavening activates slowly, giving you a tall even rise instead of a domed center that cracks.
Five eggs is a lot for a single cake, but they’re the structure here. With three cups of sugar and three cups of flour, the eggs are doing the binding and lift work, especially since baking powder is intentionally minimal at half a teaspoon.
The ganache pour is the move that takes this from coffee cake to dessert centerpiece. Cream scalded and poured over chopped semi-sweet chocolate, whisked until smooth, then poured over the cooled cake set on a rack. The drips that run down the sides are a feature, not a flaw.
Letting the ganache cool 2 to 3 minutes before pouring is the trick to get it to coat without running off completely.
Pro Tips
- Use creamy, not chunky, peanut butter. Chunks disrupt the smooth crumb.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat fully between each. Skip this and the batter curdles.
- Cool the cake completely before glazing. Warm cake melts the ganache into a thin slick instead of a coating.
- Catch ganache drippings on a baking sheet under the rack and reheat to pour over a second time for even coverage.
Variations
- Use crunchy peanut butter for added texture (the cake will have small bits throughout).
- Top with chopped roasted peanuts sprinkled over the wet ganache for crunch.
- Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the batter before baking for chocolate pockets throughout.
Ingredients
Directions
Lightly grease and flour a 10 inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan.
In a large bowl, cream butter or margarine with peanut butter.
Add sugar and combine until light in color.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mixture should be light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract.
In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Combine batter until it is smooth and creamy.
Pour into prepared pan.
Place pan into cold oven.
Set oven to 325℉ (160℃) and bake until the tester comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes.
Let cake cool in pan 30 minutes before turning out onto rack.
Remove from pan and cool completely.
Cover with ganache.
To prepare ganache: Heat cream until boiling.
Pour over chocolate chips and whisk until it is creamy and smooth.
Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
Place cake on a rack and place rack over a large clean baking sheet (to catch the drips).
Pour ganache over the top and let it cascade over the cake, enrobing it completely.
Remove rack from dirty baking sheet and place it over a clean one.
Scrape up remaining ganache and reheat it, if necessary, to pour over cake again if spots are missed.
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