Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Cake

*WARNING! This is NOT an allergy free, gluten free, paleo, vegan, organic, or diet friendly cake!*

I clipped this recipe out of a magazine many years ago so I can not properly cite my source. But this is Principal Daddy's FAVORITE cake ever since I made it the first time and I've made it for his birthday ever since. This year the boys helped make it and I thought I'd share the recipe. (Text in blue are my changes.)

Makes: 16 servings
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: at 350* for 34 minutes
Refrigerate: 1 hour 

1 box (18.25 oz) devil's food cake mix
3 eggs
1 C buttermilk (or 1 C milk and 1 T lemon juice,  let sit for 5 minutes)
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 C chopped peanut butter cups (about 8 oz,) 
       plus more to garnish 
8 oz dark chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
1 C heavy cream
1/2 C creamy peanut butter 

1. The first step should actually be to peel and chop the candy. Use child labor; my 4 year old actually did really well, and it's great fine motor practice! Put the peanut butter cups in the refrigerator overnight so that they are cold when you're peeling off the wrappers and cutting them. This makes them much firmer for cutting and makes less of a mess when unwrapping.
2. Heat oven to 350*. Coat two 9 in round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line with waxed paper; coat paper. (It works fine for me when I just butter and flour the pans. With the waxed paper, the first time I made this cake it ended up with a very strangely shaped cake.)
3. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side of the bowl after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.
4. Divide batter between prepared pans. (It won't look like much batter, but it puffs up when baked. Make sure you spread the batter to the edges as it won't do it on it's own; ask me how I know.) Bake at 350* for about 34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let layers cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
5. Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium-sized bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth.
6. Trim top of cake layers with a serrated knife. Put 1 cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour 1 cup cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour 1 cup frosting on top; spread evenly with a spatula. Top with remaining cake layer. Pour remaining frosting over the top, allowing it to spill over the sides. Smooth top and sides with spatula. Refrigerate 1 hour to set. Transfer cake to serving plate and garnish with chopped candy, if desired. 

Per serving: 470 calories; 30 g fat (11 g sat.); 8 g protein; 44 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 365 mg sodium; 62 mg cholesterol. 

Organic Stand Mixer (I grew him myself!)

Organic Mixer Cleaner

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