Outrageous Mile-High Reese's Cake

This should be on the website This Is Why You're Fat. It should also be on your plate. See, when my friend requested a Reese's cake for her birthday, I thought about the ones I'd seen other bloggers make--chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Good, sure, but not really very Reese's-like. I mean, the peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is way off. I started thinking about how to remedy this. And then it hit me. Have you seen the Cheesecake Factory's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake? It's layers of cheesecake alternating with layers of red velvet cake. Do you see where this is going, now?


A peanut butter cheesecake, sandwiched between layers of chocolate cake, all iced in peanut butter frosting, and topped with chocolate ganache. Oh yes. I went there. It has the right chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio, and it's chocolate outside, just like a Reese's. This, my friends, is the Outrageous Mile-High Reese's Cake, and it is not for the faint of heart. I apologize for the messy pictures, but it's hard to get food staged nicely at a party with lots of hungry people clamoring for cake! :)

Outrageous Mile-High Reese's Cake

Chocolate Cake (my grandmother's recipe)

• 3/4 c. unsalted butter
• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• Heaping 2 c. sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 c. flour
• 2/3 c. cocoa powder
• Heaping 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• Heaping 2 tsp. baking soda

Melt chocolate and butter together in a large bowl. Stir in sugar, then stir in eggs, one at a time, until well-combined. Meanwhile, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Add sifted ingredients to chocolate mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Stir until just combined. Add the baking soda to the boiling water OVER THE BOWL, pour the mixture into the batter, and stir it in.

Pour the batter into a greased 10-in. springform pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 4 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 3 Tbl. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 5 Tbl. half-and-half

Beat cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy. Beat in sugar, flour, and vanilla. Add eggs, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in half-and-half.

Pour the batter into a 10-in. springform pan, and bake at 375 degrees F for 40-50 minutes, or until edges are set but the very middle still jiggles slightly. Cool completely, then refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the cake.

Peanut Butter Frosting (from Ina Garten)

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 2 c. peanut butter
• 10 Tbl. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. heavy cream

Cream together butter and peanut butter. Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream, alternating between the two, and stir until smooth and creamy.

Chocolate Ganache (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 9 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1 Tbl. Kahlua

Heat the cream just until it bubbles. Pour over chocolate, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add Kahlua, and stir until incorporated. Let cool until thickened but still pourable.


To assemble:

Level out the chocolate cake, and slice it horizontally into two equal layers. Place one layer on a 10-in. cake round. Spread the top of the layer with a thin layer of the peanut butter frosting. Top with the cheesecake. Frost the top of the cheesecake with a thin layer of the peanut butter frosting. Top with the second layer of chocolate cake. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the peanut butter frosting. The nice part is that the frosting doesn't have to be perfect, since it will get covered in chocolate ganache! Transfer the cake to a cooling rack placed over a jellyroll pan lined with waxed paper. Pour chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, until it spills over onto the sides. Spread it evenly over the sides of the cake so that the whole thing is covered in ganache. You can save any ganache that drips onto the waxed paper and reuse it. If desired, decorate the cake with Reese's cups. Refrigerate until serving.