RECIPE: Naked Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake (Naked Cake)
Audra’s magnificent naked cake: chocolate and peanut butter. We’re about to eat the computer screen. Photo courtesy TheBakerChick.com. |
Oh, how we love you Audra, The Baker Chick. Your emails with such beautiful photos of your recipes make the day better. Even if we don’t have time to make them, just looking at them is sheer satisfaction. In time for Father’s Day, Audra created one of our favorite cakes*: a rich chocolate naked layer cake with a peanut butter filling and a brush of frosting. Thank you, thank you! A naked cake is related to a stack cake. Both are layer cakes and are so newly trendy that the terms are used interchangeably. A stack cake has zero outside frosting; a naked cake can have a light swath of frosting on the outside with some naked cake showing through, like this one. And now…to the kitchen! Ingredients For 10-12 Servings |
|
|
Preparation 1. PREHEAT the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two cake pans, lining with a circle of parchment paper. You can use 6-, 8- or 9- inch pans; of using 6-inch pans, make at least 3 layers. 2. WHISK together in a large bowl the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the water, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs, and continue to stir until the batter is smooth. 3. DIVIDE the batter among the pans and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool. 4. MAKE the ganache: Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer on the stovetop and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Allow to cool and thicken before using (you can pop it into the fridge or freezer). 5. MAKE the frosting: Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar until well combined. Fold in the whipped cream until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. 6. ASSEMBLE: Using a serrated knife, level each cake layer, slicing off the “dome” to make the layers even. Place the bottom later on a piece of parchment paper, on a cake turntable (you can use a pedestal cake stand, but invest in an inexpensive turntable). Spread a layer of ganache over the first layer of cake, sticking it into the fridge or freezer as needed between each frosting layer, to firm it up. 7. CONTINUE with a layer of frosting, then another layer of cake, more ganache, more frosting, etc. Add some frosting to the outside of the cake, smoothing with a spatula. Top with chopped peanut butter cups. *She adapted the base cake recipe from a Martha Stewart cake. |
||
