Chocolate peanut butter cake

SERVES 8-10

For the sponge cakes

280g softened room temperature unsalted butter 325g light muscovado sugar

280g plain chocolate, melted and cooled 4 free-range eggs and 4 egg yolks, beaten together 2tsp vanilla bean paste

200g soured cream (full-fat is best)

250g self raising flour

50g cocoa powder

½tsp fine sea salt

For the peanut butter frosting

350g smooth peanut butter

200g soft unsalted butter

500g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

75-100ml full-fat milk, at room temperature

For the chocolate drip & nut decoration 150g plain chocolate chips

100g double cream

2tsp golden syrup

A handful of chopped nuts, toasted

Method

1 Grease, base and side line three 20cm (8in) round cake tins (if you don’t have three you can divide your mix and wait for each layer to cool, but this will take longer). Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas Mark 3.

2 In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle beater attachment (or electric whisk, or bowl and wooden spoon), cream the butter, vanilla paste and sugar until paler in colour and fluffy.

3 Reduce the speed to slow and gradually add the egg, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl to make sure you’ve got all the butter and sugar from the sides and the bottom of the bowl, then mix on

slow until the egg mix is completely amalgamated. Don’t worry if it looks a bit curdled as this will disappear when you add the flour and cocoa.

4 Keeping the mixer on low speed, pour in the cooled melted chocolate and mix in, then add the soured cream, mixing on slow until incorporated.

5 Lastly, add the cocoa powder to the flour and mix roughly with a metal spoon to mix the powders, then add this to the mixing bowl in increments of about three and gently mix on slow just until the powdery flour is mixed in.

6 Spoon a third of the mixture into each tin and level off each layer with a spoon or palette knife. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake is still a little wobbly and a knife inserted into the centre of the sponge layer comes out a little pastey and the cakes are shrinking away from the tin edge a bit. Remove and cool in the tins on a wire rack.

7 Make the frosting by beating the peanut butter, butter and vanilla together until really creamy. Add the sugar in increments of three and mix on slow until the icing sugar is incorporated, then turn up the speed to high to beat with each addition of the icing sugar. Once your sugar is all in, the mixture will be a little stiff, so on slow speed add a couple of tablespoons of the milk at a time, beating on slow to loosen the frosting. Add enough milk until you have a nice soft frosting – you are looking for the consistency of soft peanut butter so it will spread on well with your palette knife.

8 To assemble, place the first sponge onto a cake stand or plate and spread over with a layer of frosting. Top with a second sponge, making sure it’s in line and flat, then repeat with a layer of frosting. Place the last layer on top, inverting so the smooth side that was in the base of the tin is uppermost and generously spread the frosting all around the sides of the cake first (a crank handled palette knife is the best tool for the job). This allows you to be able to hold the top of the cake still while you work around the cake. Use a gentle pressure against the side of the cake with the palette knife and use a back and forth spreading motion to spread the coating over the sides. Once the side is covered, spread a nice even layer over the top of the cake, smoothing around the top in a back and forth circular motion to even out the top coating. Once the whole cake is covered, chill for 20-30 minutes before adding a second neater coat.

9 Add a second coat to the cake with a crank handled palette knife, smoothing it all over the top and sides as neatly as you can. Use a side scraper if you have one to help get it straight and neat. You may have a little frosting left over depending on how thickly you like it covered, so you can save this for cupcakes and freeze if you wish.

10 If you can’t get toasted chopped nuts, you can just place your nuts into a dry frying pan and lightly heat on medium until they are lightly toasted, then allow to cool.

11 To make the chocolate ganache, melt the cream and chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl a minute at a time until the chocolate tips are melted and the mixture is completely amalgamated. You can do this step in a bain mairie if preferred. Once melted, add the golden syrup and stir well. Allow to cool to room temperature. You want it still runny and not set, but not too hot that the frosting melts.

12 Pour the chocolate over the top of the cake just within the top edge and, using the back of a metal spoon or palette knife, gently tease the sauce over the top and allow some lovely drips of chocolate to fall over the sides of the cake. Once you are happy with it, add a scattering of chopped nuts anyhow you like, around the base or on the top, or both.