Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Jam Cake with Swiss-Meringue Buttercream Recipe
Photo: Lyndsay Sung
Recipe created by Lyndsay Sung, of Coco Cake Land and adapted slightly from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.
Makes one 7-inch cake
For the cake:1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
1 cup of Rodelle Dutch process cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I used 2 shots of espresso topped up with hot water equal to 1 cup)
For Peanut Butter Frosting and Jam Filling: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 cup supermarket peanut butter
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Dash of milk
1 cup raspberry jam preserves, divided in half
For Raspberry Swiss-Meringue Buttercream: Buttercream recipe from Lomelino's Cakes 4 large egg whites
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 ounces raspberries
Small amount of pink gel food coloring
For Chocolate Drip: 1/2 cup quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup unsalted butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter three 7 x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper circles.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter on high speed for 1 minute.
Scraping down the sides of the bowl, add the icing sugar, vanilla and dash of milk, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Remove the first cake layer from the cake pan and place on a cake plate or pedestal.
Fill a piping bag fitted with an open-circle tip with some of the frosting. Starting from the outside of the cake layer, pipe frosting onto the cake in a circle, forming a dam in the middle.
Add raspberry-jam filling to the middle. Add the second layer, repeating the frosting dam and jam filling. Add the final layer of cake, frosting the top and sides to a crumb coat. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
Frost a final coat of peanut-butter frosting and chill for 15 minutes to set peanut-butter frosting layer before you frost the Swiss-meringue raspberry buttercream layer!
Make Swiss meringue buttercream: Pour the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl. Place it on top of a double boiler over a pot of simmering water. Whisk continually until the mixture reaches 150 degrees, or the sugar crystals have dissolved. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Continue to beat the mixture with an electric beater, or hand mixer, until it is as white and fluffy as a meringue. Beat until the mixture is cool, up to 10 minutes.
Add the butter, a little at a time. After all the butter has been incorporated, beat for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Puree the raspberries in a blender. Press the puree through a fine mesh to remove the seeds.
Mix the puree with the buttercream, beating until smooth. Add a tiny amount of gel color to make it more pink.
Frost the chilled peanut-butter frosted cake with a first layer of Swiss- meringue raspberry buttercream; chill again for a final time, then finish with the last layer of raspberry buttercream for an epically frosted cake!
Note: If your Swiss-meringue buttercream becomes soupy, or worse, cottage cheesy, refer to this very effective "How to Fix Swiss-Meringue Buttercream" post!
Make the drip: Using a bain-marie, or heatproof bowl, set on top of boiling water, melt together the butter and chocolate. Mix together slowly with a wooden spoon.
Set aside to cool for 20 minutes; it will thicken slightly. Pour on top of the pink Swiss-meringue raspberry buttercream final layer, using an offset spatula to gently ice the glaze to the edges of the cake for maximum dripping.
Makes one 7-inch cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
For Peanut Butter Frosting and Jam Filling:
For Raspberry Swiss-Meringue Buttercream: Buttercream recipe from Lomelino's Cakes
For Chocolate Drip:
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter three 7 x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper circles.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter on high speed for 1 minute.
Scraping down the sides of the bowl, add the icing sugar, vanilla and dash of milk, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Remove the first cake layer from the cake pan and place on a cake plate or pedestal.
Fill a piping bag fitted with an open-circle tip with some of the frosting. Starting from the outside of the cake layer, pipe frosting onto the cake in a circle, forming a dam in the middle.
Add raspberry-jam filling to the middle. Add the second layer, repeating the frosting dam and jam filling. Add the final layer of cake, frosting the top and sides to a crumb coat. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
Frost a final coat of peanut-butter frosting and chill for 15 minutes to set peanut-butter frosting layer before you frost the Swiss-meringue raspberry buttercream layer!
Make Swiss meringue buttercream: Pour the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl. Place it on top of a double boiler over a pot of simmering water. Whisk continually until the mixture reaches 150 degrees, or the sugar crystals have dissolved. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Continue to beat the mixture with an electric beater, or hand mixer, until it is as white and fluffy as a meringue. Beat until the mixture is cool, up to 10 minutes.
Add the butter, a little at a time. After all the butter has been incorporated, beat for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Puree the raspberries in a blender. Press the puree through a fine mesh to remove the seeds.
Mix the puree with the buttercream, beating until smooth. Add a tiny amount of gel color to make it more pink.
Frost the chilled peanut-butter frosted cake with a first layer of Swiss- meringue raspberry buttercream; chill again for a final time, then finish with the last layer of raspberry buttercream for an epically frosted cake!
Note: If your Swiss-meringue buttercream becomes soupy, or worse, cottage cheesy, refer to this very effective "How to Fix Swiss-Meringue Buttercream" post!
Make the drip: Using a bain-marie, or heatproof bowl, set on top of boiling water, melt together the butter and chocolate. Mix together slowly with a wooden spoon.
Set aside to cool for 20 minutes; it will thicken slightly. Pour on top of the pink Swiss-meringue raspberry buttercream final layer, using an offset spatula to gently ice the glaze to the edges of the cake for maximum dripping.
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