Light and fluffy chocolate cake covered in peanut butter and chocolate ganache, topped with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. Mix up this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Bundt Cake by hand in two bowls for an easy, impressive dessert.
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This chocolate peanut butter bundt cake was the first bundt cake recipe to be published on Bunsen Burner Bakery, all the way back in 2016. It kicked off an entire obsession — 2017 was my “Year of Bundt Cakes” with a new bundt cake recipe each month.
(And there’s no end in sight – I have four more bundt cake recipes waiting to share.)
But after 3.5 years, this post deserved a bit of a rewrite, new photos, and a new video to show you how gosh darn EASY it is to make. So easy, it doesn’t even require a mixer!
That’s right — this cake is entirely made by hand!
And it’s coming just in time for Halloween when you just might find yourself with a lot of peanut butter cups.
You know, maybe you have little Trick or Treaters at home and you can raid their candy stash and convince them to trade you their peanut butter cups in exchange for this cake.
Or maybe you’re buying lots of Halloween candy and whoops an extra bag of peanut butter cups wound up in your cart.
Or you know, maybe you should just go plan on buying some extra peanut butter cups at an after-Halloween sale — is that a thing?! — specifically to make this cake because really, you just need this cake in your life.
This chocolate peanut butter cup bundt cake has the flavor and decadence of my chocolate peanut butter cup layer cake, but it’s a mere quarter of the work.
No layers, no frosting, and no mixer necessary. Just a saucepan, a bowl, and a whisk, and the cake of your chocolate-and-peanut butter-loving dreams can be all yours.
Making this cake seriously could not be any easier. Because the cake uses melted butter, the entire thing can be whisked by hand. No stand mixer is necessary!
Look, there’s even a video to show you how easy the process is. Watch and see for yourself. ↓↓↓
Bundt cakes can often taste dry and crumbly since they’re big, dense, and heavy. This cake manages to stay moist, however, thanks to the addition of both buttermilk AND one of my favorite secret ingredients when it comes to baking cakes: Greek yogurt!
Why Greek yogurt? It’s time for my favorite subject.. kitchen chemistry!
Kitchen Chemistry
Adding plain, full-fat Greek yogurt to cakes keeps them moist and fluffy. Much like buttermilk or sour cream, Greek yogurt lowers the pH of the batter, which helps break down the tough strands of gluten from the flour. But Greek yogurt also contains more casein, a protein that both increases the volume and moisture content of cakes.
Chocolate ganache is a mixture of equal(…ish) parts of chocolate and heated heavy cream. Stir together until perfectly smooth and shiny, then pour on top.
As the ganache cools, it will solidify, but stay soft. No longer runny, but it never truly hardens.
On a cake, it serves as both a decoration and an added flavor; like a richer, even chocolatier frosting.
It also helps to hold in moisture and prevent the cake from drying out. In this case, we’ll also use the ganache to serve as the glue to hold on to our chopped peanut butter cups, too!
I prefer to make mine on the stovetop, using a double boiler method. I find this gives me more control, allows me to whisk while heating simultaneously, and has less risk of the chocolate seizing.
If you prefer, you can heat the milk first and pour it on top of the chocolate, let it sit for a few minutes, and then whisk until smooth.
Everyone knows about chocolate ganache. But did you know that PEANUT BUTTER GANACHE is a thing, too?
I first discovered peanut butter ganache with this Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pretzel Pie, and have since made it my life mission to add it to as many things as possible.
Much like chocolate ganache, we make peanut butter ganache by adding together warm heavy cream and… peanut butter chips. And peanut butter (smooth, not chunky!).
Stir together until perfectly smooth, then pour over the cake. It’s thick. It piles on and slowly slides down the sides of the cake. I… could kind of watch it all day.
Chocolate (and peanut butter!) ganache is perfectly stable at room temperature, so this cake is safe to store on the counter. Keep the cake in an airtight container for up to 5 days (if it lasts that long!).
Once cut, the edges of bundt cakes are exposed to air dry out first, so covering these exposed sides with plastic wrap will help keep the cake fresher.
This cake can also be made ahead of time and frozen. Store the cake — either fully made and decorated or as leftover slices — in the freezer for up to 3 months. Wrap in aluminum foil and store in a plastic freezer bag (slices) or a large airtight plastic storage container (whole cake). Bring to room temperature before serving.
Light and fluffy chocolate cake covered in peanut butter and chocolate ganache, topped with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.
A Bunsen Burner Bakery Original Protocol
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This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Bundt Cake recipe was originally published on 05/05/2016. It was republished on 10/29/2019 with new recipe tips and photographs.