m&m’s peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting recipe

I smiled, but she’s right. We have such a hard time finding peanut butter when we travel to see my parents in Romania and just to be in the safe side, this time I bought a couple of jars of peanut butter to take with us to Italy. Surrounded by so much peanut butter, (is that ever a bad thing?) I started to crave some peanut butter treats. An open bag of Peanut Butter M&M’S was calling my name from the freezer as well and since I was on the quest to pretty much clean out the fridge and freezer before out long trip, I just had to use those Peanut Butter M&M’S. Just had to!




Ingredients
Cake
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup vanilla yogurt, drained for a couple of hours in the fridge (see notes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 cup Peanut Butter M&M’S, roughly chopped
Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups creamy peanut butter
5 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream (see notes)

Instructions
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and line two 9 inch round baking pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl add the butter and sugar. With the paddle attachment on, beat on low speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract, followed by the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in the yogurt followed by the flour, baking powder and salt in two-three batches mixing until just combined.
With a spatula, fold in the chopped M&M’S.
Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans and bake in preheated oven for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, leave to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack.
When the cake layers are cooled, make the frosting.
In a mixing bowl, add the peanut butter and the butter. With the paddle attachment on, beat until smooth.
Gently, beat in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until add the sugar is incorporated.
If you have a cake ring, add 1/4 cup heavy cream to the frosting and fit the mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip on low speed, slowly increasing it for 5 minutes.
Turn the mixer off and assemble the cake.
Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter. Arrange the cake ring around it to fit it tightly.
Spoon half of the frosting over the first cake layer and spread it evenly.
Place the second cake layer over the frosting, slightly pressing it down. Tighten the cake ring if needed.
Spoon the remaining peanut butter frosting over the second layer and finish the cake with more Peanut Butter M&M’S or Peanut M&M’S or a combo of the two.
Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before removing

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