Plantaion Peanut Butter Cake
From: McCall's, May, 1995
Cake:
2 cups unsifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cups chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
Fluffy Peanut-Butter Icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 pkg (8-oz size) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Decoration:
Melted semisweet chocolate
Dry-roasted peanut halves
Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-in.) round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper; grease. Dust with flour; tap out excess. In bowl, mix cake flour, baking powder, salt and allspice. Sift onto sheet of wax paper.
In large bowl of electric mixer, at medium speed, beat butters until smooth. Beat in sugars; beat 3 minutes or until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths) alternately with milk (in thirds), beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped peanuts; spread into pans.
Bake cake layers 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of each comes out clean; cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Invert onto racks; remove pans and paper. Invert layers again; cool completely.
Make icing: In large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in peanut butter and vanilla. At low speed, beat in confectioners' sugar. Use to fill and frost cake.
Pat remaining chopped peanuts onto sides. Pipe 6 concentric chocolate rings on top; with pick, pull icing toward edges of cake. Decorate with "flowers" made with peanut petals. Pipe chocolate into center of each of the flowers to hold petals together.
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