Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Peter D’s easy everyday chocolate cake– topped w. Jess S.’ peanut butter frosting. The perfect combination for a housewarming gift to JJ. When gifting a cake- a couple issues come up. You either need a cake box- or some other means of transport- where the frosting won’t get messed up. and you also don’t want to end up giving your cake pan away in the process.  I also hate the idea of giving someone a cake that I haven’t sampled– not necessarily because I just need a bite, but what if it sucks?  I am also not so into the sq cake look– but as I don’t own a round cake pan- it remains the easiest route to go.  To solve all problems, I decided to put the cake  in this fish tin. Using it, as Heather pointed out, like a giant cookie cutter, I laid the tin on the cake, cut around it.. then flipped the cake upside- foil covering excess parts I didn’t want to fall out. Fish was just a bit bigger than the cake, so had to do the tail separately. With the extra bits, I made a mason jar layer cake. I thought maybe i’d have to cut out circles- but really, I just put some in- flatten it down, add a spoon of frosting, add more cake, and continue to layer.  A note about this delicious frosting: Jess S. made this a couple years ago– it was so good- it reminded me of reese’s– and i’ve been meaning to make it ever since.   Jess S. has all sorts of amazing recipes from her Grammie Viv– including this one–which was adapted by her Aunt Julie– then again by Jess herself.

Peter’s Easy Everyday Cake
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder

6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered espresso

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 pan w. foil and grease w. butter. Empty first set of ingredients in large bowl. Mix. Add liquid ingredients and stir.  Pour into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes. When done, cake springs back when you gently touch w. your finger.  Cool cake on wire rack. Can lift cake out by foil- and onto rack.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Jess S. Peanut Butter Frosting
I halved the recipe below- but use full amount for layer cake, cupcakes etc. Jess said sometimes she uses a bit less butter- and more PB and sometimes water instead of milk.
1 cup peanut butter (more to taste)
1 stick butter, softened, or half cup crisco
2 cups confectioner sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
milk- a couple tablespoons

Beat butter and sugar w. mixer. Add vanilla. Beat. And PB. Beat. Add a couple tablespoons of milk to thin and smooth. If you have it sitting around for a bit while your cake is cooling, and it starts to sort of stiffen- add a drop more milk and mix up and smooth out.