Description
These diminutive nostalgic cakes are a nod to one of the most beloved baked goods at my Dad’s bakery when I was a kid. They start with a not too sweet vanilla sponge, layered with creamy peanut butter and a crowned with melted chocolate. They are pure bite-sized bliss.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups of granulated sugar (400 g)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 TBSP neutral oil (grapeseed or vegetable)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup whole milk (200g)
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 TBSP coconut oil
- OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup of toppings to decorate the PB&C Bites (crushed peanuts, mini chocolate chips, or sprinkles)
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350 degrees.
- Prep a 10 x 15 baking pan/ jelly roll pan by lining with parchment paper and spray with flour based baking spray.
- Add flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl together and whisk to mix.
- In a standing mixer, mix sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil for two minutes or until fully incorporated and creamy.
- Alternate mixing the flour mixture and the milk on low speed until incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
- At the end, use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and place in pre-heated oven for about 18-20 minutes. Halfway through rotate the pan for even baking.
- Check the cake at 18 minutes and use a cake tester to ensure that it is baked in the center. If not, continue to bake for two minutes and recheck doneness.
- Let cake cool completely.
- Invert cake onto a parchment lined cutting board. Peel up the parchment layer from the top of the cake.
- Using an offset spatula, frost the entire cake with peanut butter. Be sure to that you have an even layer that goes all the way to the edges.
- Freeze the cake for 40 minutes to set the peanut butter.
- Pull the cake out of the freezer and place on a work surface. If you want to make circular cakes, use a biscuit cutter to cut individual cakes. Make sure you cut as close to each other as you can to ensure that you use every bit of cake possible. Place the cake circles on a baking pan and put them back in the freezer until you are ready to dip them in chocolate.
Preparing Melted Chocolate
- While cakes are chilling, fill a sauce pot 1/3 high with water and use a heat safe metal or glass bowl to create a double boiler. Add chocolate chips and coconut oil. Stir with a rubber spatula until melted and smooth.
- At this point, you can smooth the melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer of the cakes with a small spreader. (Or, for extra chocolatey cakes, you can submerge them in the chocolate to completely enrobe them.)
- My preferred method is to put the melted chocolate in a plastic pastry bag. You won’t need a pastry tip – just snip a tiny bit off of the edge of the pastry bag as the chocolate flows pretty quickly. Using the bag, trace a circle around the perimeter of the cake and fill in the center with chocolate. If it isn’t as smooth as you would like, use a small knife to smooth it over quickly.
- The chocolate will begin to set in a minute or two, so if you would like to add sprinkles, crushed peanuts, mini chocolate chips or any other elements to the top, do it right away before the chocolate sets.
- Refrigerate cakes for at least 30 minutes until ready to serve. Cakes can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days in the refrigerator or for a month in the freezer.
Notes
*If you prefer to serve this cake in rectangular pieces, you can skip instruction #10 and not invert the cake. While the individual round cake bites are adorable, this is a much faster way to prepare them and there is no wasted cake from the cutters. Just keep your cake in the pan, frost it with peanut butter and freeze it. And then put the melted chocolate on top of that and freeze again. Cut the cake into squares and use a spatula to remove from them pan onto your serving platter.