Peanut Butter and Jam Cake

Name: Peanut Butter and Jam Cake
Yield: serves 12 to 14
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2 cups granulated sugar; 4 large eggs; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 cup whole milk; 1 (10-ounce) bag peanut butter chips; 1 cup high-quality strawberry jam, for filling; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter; 1 cup powdered sugar; 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 cup chopped salted peanuts, for decorating

December 14, 2011

This cake is a riff on my great-aunt Lorena’s 1-2-3-4 cake, a classic confection dating back to at least the mid-1800s, made with one cup butter, two cups sugar, three cups flour, and four eggs. It’s a simple cake, perfect for the likes of Aunt Lorena, who was better known for her prowess as a drama teacher than for her ability in the kitchen. (The auditorium in the Grapeland, Texas, high school where she taught for many years is named after her.) My favorite story about Aunt Lorena comes from Uncle Jack, Lorena’s middle son, who says he was in high school history class before he discovered the South did not win the Civil War. As he tells it, his mom was so proud of her grandfather, William Burroughs Wright, who fought in the war alongside his brother and his brother-in-law, that she managed to brush over the fact that the North won.

Recipe information

Yield
serves 12 to 14

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup whole milk

1 (10-ounce) bag peanut butter chips

1 cup high-quality strawberry jam, for filling

Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped salted peanuts, for decorating

Preparation

Step 1
TO MAKE THE CAKE: Place 1 oven rack in the top third of the oven and the second in the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper rounds, grease with butter or cooking spray, dust the pans with flour, and knock out the excess.
Step 2
Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the 1 cup butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs all at once and beat on medium speed until combined. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the 2 teaspoons vanilla into the milk. Add the flour mixture and milk in alternating batches, beginning and ending with flour. After each addition, mix on low speed just to combine the ingredients. Stir in the peanut butter chips.
Step 3
Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Set 2 layers on the top rack and the third on the lower rack. Stagger the cake layers on the oven racks so that no layer is directly over another. Bake until the cake is golden, firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Monitor the layers carefully for doneness; each one may be done at a different time. Cool the layers in their pans about 10 minutes; unmold onto wire racks to cool completely.
Step 4
TO MAKE THE FROSTING: Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 1 cup butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, cream, and the 2 teaspoons vanilla and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 more minutes.
Step 5
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate and spread the top with half of the jam. Repeat with a second layer. Stack the final cake layer on top of the first 2 and cover the cake’s top and sides with frosting. Press the chopped peanuts around the sides of the frosted cake.

Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved. A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café. Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances. Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.

TagsLayer Cake Cake Dessert Peanut Butter Baking Stand Mixer Cookbooks

Recipe information

Ingredients

Cake

Frosting

Preparation

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Recipe notes