Black Magic Cake with PB Frosting

Wedding planning has officially taken over my life, and the few moments I had to blog apparently!!  So to make up for it, I decided that I would participate in this months Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted by Mom's Crazy Cooking.  I had to sit out the last few months due to holidays and wedding planning, and this month I volunteered myself to make a cake for a fellow employee's birthday.  Perfect timing, because the challenge this month was finding THE ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CAKE! 

I set out to find the perfect most yummy sounding/looking Chocolate Cake, and I found one over at Edible Moments.  She called it Decadent Chocolate Cake with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting.  The original recipe was adapted from Hershey's, which is called Black Magic Cake.  This cake is totally magical, so I decided to use the original name!! :) 

I was surprised the cake wasn't too sweet; it was perfect, and the same way with the frosting.  I thought maybe it would put it over the top, but it didn't. 

Confession time...after I whipped up the frosting, I realized that I didn't add in enough milk according to the recipe (only used 2 tbsp at first).  Which looking back, I should have left it as it was.  Anyways, so I proceeded to add another tablespoon of milk and something weird happened to it.  It's hard to explain.  So I added in a smidgen more milk and a little more powdered sugar thinking it would go back to normal.  Wrong.  It looked odd, but still tasted great.  Not really sure what had happened, but when I went to ice the cake it didn't spread well at all.  I made it work though, and it wasn't pretty at all.  So I decided to add the chocolate drizzle, along with some chopped Reeses PB Cups.  That helped the looks of the cake, and made it even more magical tasting!! 

So I had a minor mishap, but it still turned out to be amazing!!  Everyone loved it and was raving about it.  It was very moist, the perfect sweetness, and creamy!  Don't let my little mess up turn you away, this is definitely THE CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE to try!! ;)

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
1 cup strong black coffee OR 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1 cup boiling water (I used fresh brewed coffee)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
PB Frosting
Chocolate Drizzle
12 mini Reeses PB Cups, chopped

Cake Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired, top with chocolate drizzle and chopped mini Reeses PB Cups.
4. Store covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.
*If you don't have buttermilk, add 1 tbsp white vinegar OR 1 tbsp lemon juice to regular milk (I used lemon juice)

Peanut Butter Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Frosting Directions:
Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

*You can also add in about 1/2 tsp Meringue Powder....just to help it stiffen up and crust a tad more. I didn't do this, completely optional

Chocolate Drizzle Ingredients:
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp margarine
1tbsp light corn syrup

Chocolate Drizzle Directions:
Put all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and put in microwave for 30 seconds.  Take out and stir, you might need to put back in for an additional 15 seconds and stir until melted down.  Don't put it in much longer than that, you will end up with burned chocolate.  Drizzle over cake as desired.

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