Ok…this is everything you could ever want in a dessert. I served these fabulous cakes at our Downton Season Finale Tea Party! Everyone loved them, including myself! The peanut butter buttercream filling is to die for!
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 box of devils food cake mix (I used Aldi’s Bakers Corner Brand)
4 eggs (the box calls for 3, so I added an extra egg to the mix)
Substitute milk for water
Substitute softened, unsalted butter for oil
1/2 cup sour cream
For the buttercream filling:
1 heaping cup of peanut butter
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt
(Original recipe: the perfect peanut butter buttercream )
For the ganache:
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Directions
Let’s start with the cake. I find it easier to just doctor up boxed cake mix. Mix ingredients and bake according to package directions, using substitutions stated above. Bake the cake in a greased and lightly floured 13×9 cake pan. Let cake completely cool. You will need to get this cake out of the pan in one piece, so try to flip it over quickly onto a large parchment covered cutting board.
Once the cake is free from the pan, take a large serrated knife and slice the cake longways, creating two large, thinner cakes. Cut 12 hearts out (6 from each layer) with a decent sized heart shaped cookie cutter. Set aside the cake hearts on parchment, and discard the scraps. (Or save them for snacking, or cake pops!)
Next, get your buttercream going. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the peanut butter and butter for 3 minutes. Next, add the powdered sugar, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix until combined. Lastly, add in the heavy cream and salt, and mix until smooth. Mix on high for 3-4 minutes, until the buttercream has become light and fluffy.
***This buttercream is meant to be used immediately, so don’t go refrigerating it. Set time aside to make this the day of!***
Once you’ve made your buttercream, transfer it to a piping bag. Pipe the BC (buttercream) onto 6 of the hearts. (Don’t be shy, lay it on thick!) Sandwich the piped buttercream by topping each piped heart with the remaining 6 heart shaped cakes. Now move the 6 filled heart cakes to a cooling rack, which is situated on top of a sheet pan or wax paper. (The ganache is going to be poured over the cakes, an the excess ganache will fall below.) You can pipe extra BC onto each plate if you’d like, for extra rich goodness!
Now, onto the ganache! Place the chopped, bittersweet chocolate in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Heat the heavy cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, watching very carefully. (It can boil over quickly!) Immediately remove from heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over the cakes. Start pouring at the center of the cake and work outward. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick for a beautiful, smooth finish. Let the ganache set until no longer shiny or tacky and serve. Enjoy!