My SECRET WEAPON

Hello All!
I've missed you all very much, as well as my sadly neglected blog. Please do not think for a minute I have lost interest in it. My absence is a result of a very long period of frustratng unemployment, which makes it difficult to go out and buy yummy foods to cook with or blog about, I've also been on the road a great deal between Syracuse and Rochester, limiting my kitchen time. So, once again, I must sincerely apologize for my lack of blogging lately, hopefully things will be looking up soon, and blogging will continue at a much more consistent pace.

Those of you who know me well have probably heard tell of a chocolate peanut butter cake that I make. I have made it for several years now for my Zachariah on his birthday and other momentous occasions. Zach named it the "Bond is Dead" Cake, because it is DELEEEEICOUS (if you've seen the most recent James Bond movie, you'll get the joke, if not, just call it Lynn's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, which sounds slightly less nerdy:)

I am hardly the first person to pair chocolate and peanut butter, the trail was obviously blazed waaaaay before my time, but if I do say so myself, this is a DAMN good cake. If you're a chocolate/peanut butter freak, you're gonna wanna kiss me after you taste this. I call it my secret weapon for a reason :)

Another thing I really like about this recipe is that certain portions of it are basically up to the cook. The only thing that has a real "recipe" is the frosting, the rest is really a method that I'll give you some tips for, nothing too hard and fast. To give credit where credit is due, the Peanut Butter Frosting recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake (aka The "Bond is Dead" Cake)

-Pick your favorite chocolate cake recipe, if you have a from scratch recipe, use that, if there is a box chocolate cake mix that you really love, use that.

-Prepare Batter as usual, end by folding chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups into the batter (about 2 cups is my recommendation, but adjust the amount to your taste) I use the mini PB cups, but you could use full-size ones if you want. Heck, you could use Reese's Pieces if you wanted also....

- Pour batter into cake pan(s). IMPORTANT:  The addition of Reese's PB cups to the batter will make the batter more carmelized and more prone to sticking to the pan. Save yourself a MASSIVE amount of frustration by LINING YOUR CAKE PANS WITH PARCHMENT PAPER. I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to flip this cake out of the pan, only to have it break because the carmelized PB cups had stuck to the bottom. Just trust me on this, parchment paper is your best buddy in this situation. Anyway, pour the cake batter into the pan or pans ( two 8-in rounds, one 9x15, whatever you want) and cook according to cake recipe until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

-Allow cake to cool completely, remove cake from pan(s) CAREFULLY, turn onto serving platter.

-Frost with Peanut Butter Frosting, decorate with more PB cups or Reese's Pieces.

Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 5 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
-3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp. kosher salt
-1/3 cup heavy cream

- Place the confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer or in medium/large mixing bowl. Mix on medium low speed until creamy, scraping down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go. Add the cream and mix on high until mixture is light and fluffy (if it's too wet add more confectioner's sugar, if it's too dry, add more cream)

Note: This cake tastes best chilled (and the frosting may start to get a little slippery if it's at room temperature for too long). As soon you're done frosting it, place it in the refrigerator so that it's nicely chilled when dessert time rolls around.

Love to All,

Lynn :)