Prepare yourself for the ultimate dessert indulgence with this Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cake! This sweet and salty layer cake combines the rich and creamy allure of peanut butter, the decadent sweetness of chocolate, and the irresistible crunch of pretzels. The result is a harmonious symphony of flavors that will tantalize your taste buds and leave you craving another slice.
If you love sweet and salty combinations as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Salted Caramel Brownies, Salted Toffee Dark Chocolate Cookies, or my Sea Salt Black Cocoa Biscotti.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
You'll absolutely adore this Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Cake if you love sweet and salty desserts as much as I do! The combination of rich, velvety chocolate and creamy peanut butter creates a match made in dessert heaven. I add pretzels to this cake to create a contrasting texture and flavor that makes this a sweet and salty cake worthy of any celebration!
This light and fluffy peanut butter cake is paired with peanut butter buttercream frosting. I add my creamy Milk Chocolate Ganache and salty pretzels in between the layers and on top. This sweet and salty layer cake is perfect for birthdays, dinner parties and everything in between!
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cake
Homemade Organic Light Brown Sugar
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Costco Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter
Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
Mama Ganache Organic Milk Chocolate
Why Organic
Why use organic ingredients in this recipe? You all know I’m a huge organic advocate, and I bet you may be thinking sometimes, Why would I even bother to use organic ingredients in something that is so sweet and indulgent? But, that is the exact reason why you should use organic ingredients! Sweet things need to have flavor in order to be good, otherwise they are just sweet and they don’t taste like much else. Organic ingredients are more pure than conventional ones, therefore they actually have more flavor than the non organic options. Say it with me, organic means more flavor! And not just more flavor but a more true and pure flavor. And organic ingredients are much healthier for you to eat in general as they do not contain GMOs or anything artificial. Plus, you are being environmentally friendly when you choose organic ingredients!
So, I highly recommend that you buy the best organic ingredients for this recipe! You can also shop my Amazon Storefront for all my favorite organic ingredients here. Tip – hover over each ingredient to see the name. And if you want to learn more about organic foods and the difference, read my post here on Food Labels and What They Mean.
This sweet and salty cake is made up of a peanut butter cake, peanut butter frosting, and it is filled with milk chocolate ganache and pretzels!
Ingredients
- Batter
1/2 cup (113 grams) organic salted butter, softened
170 grams (3/4 cup) organic packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
64 grams (1/4 cup) organic peanut butter
2 organic large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup organic milk, room temperature
1/4 cup organic heavy whipping cream, room temperature
177 grams (1 1/4 cups) organic cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Frosting
454 grams (3 cups plus 3 tablespoons) organic powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (226 grams) organic salted butter, softened
32 grams (2 tablespoons) organic peanut butter
2 to 3 teaspoons organic milk
- Topping
organic pretzel twists
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract and mix no low until combined and there are no chunks of butter. Add the peanut butter, eggs, milk, and heavy whipping cream and mix on low until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add the cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt and whisk together. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Continue to mix on low until you don’t see any specs of flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans, about 255 grams each.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pans.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy.
- To assemble the cake: Place a dollop of frosting on a cake stand or cake spinner and add the first cake layer. Using a cake spatula add a thin layer of frosting to the top of the cake.
- Add a small amount of frosting into a piping bag, and pipe a circle around the boarder of the cake. Add chocolate ganache into the middle, the frosting acts as a wall so it doesn’t spill over the sides. Place the second cake layer on top, and repeat this process.
- Crumb coat the cake. Frost the cake smooth and a boarder of pretzel twists all around the bottom of the cake. Add chocolate ganache to the top, and chopped pretzel pieces on top of that.
- Store in a cake dome for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Gluten Free — Replace the cake flour with 177 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) organic gluten free flour blend. Use gluten free pretzels.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
- To learn how to crumb coat a cake, read my tutorial How to Crumb Coat a Cake.
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Make sure to check out my Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, which I'm sure you'll love too! And, share it with someone who you think may also like it!
