Chocolate Fudge Cake with Peanut Butter Frostings

Captain Joe, our pastor at the Salvation Army Corp, likes chocolate and he likes peanut butter so for his birthday I decided to combine the two. I used my Mom's favorite chocolate cake recipe (recipe to follow) and frosted it with a Peanut Butter Mousseline Butter Cream then decorated it with a chocolate peanut butter frosting.

I don't know where this recipe originated. My Grandmother gave my Mom this recipe when I was six and it instantly became everyone's favorite.

Best of the Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 1/4 c sifted cake flour (I used 8.3 oz/236 grams)
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup of butter
2 1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 c sour cream
1 c boiling water

1. Melt chocolate and set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degree F
   
3. Grease and flour two 9 x 1 1/2 cake pans (I used a 13 x 9 x 2)
4. Sift flour, baking soda and salt onto waxed paper
5. In a large bowl, (I used my KitchenAid) beat butter until soft.
6. Add brown sugar and eggs to butter and beat with mixer until light and fluffy (3 mins on 4 or 6) 5 mins on high with a hand held mixer
   
7. Beat in vanilla and cooled chocolate
8. Stir in dry ingredients alternating with sour cream beating well with wooden spoon after each addition until batter is smooth (I used my KA on stir)
9. Stir in boiling water. Batter will be thin.
10. Pour at once into prepared pans
11. Bake in a moderate oven (350 F) until center springs back when gently touch in center. Everyone's oven is different so monitor closely. It took me 35 mins for 9" round, 50 for 10" and 13x9x2.
12. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Turn out and cool completely.

The Mousseline Frosting came from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Cake Bible". I added a 1/2 cup of Peanut Butter and 1 T vanilla at the end. I'll use less peanut butter next time because on day 2 I noticed the frosting became softer.

For the Peanut Butter Ganache, I used:

226 grams of chocolate

256 grams of heavy cream

8 T Jif Peanut Butter

1 T corn syrup

I processed the chocolate in a food processor.

Heated all the other ingredients in a sauce pan to a boil, then poured it over the chocolate as the processor was running. As soon as all the liquid was added, I stopped the processor and poured the chocolate into a bowl to cool.

After the ganache cooled a bit, I stirred in 1 T Vanilla

On day 2, the ganache was too bitter for me. (I used half 53% and half 62% baking chocolate) So I beat in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. This changes it from a ganache to a frosting.

The frosting piped like a dream and made beautiful roses.