I saw this recipe from Shugary Sweets while cruising Pinterest and knew I had to find an opportunity to try it. It seemed a little over the top, but looked oh so good and doable. Then when I saw Dove chocolates on sale, it was like a sign. I needed to make this recipe.
Since it is football season, gameday seemed like the perfect time to make this yummy dessert to share.
I actually followed the recipe exactly (well except the frosting) and made sure I had all the ingredients for this one. Go me!
I even took pictures all along the way. Double go me!
The recipe looks like a lot and might seem a little overwhelming at first, but it was surprisingly simple and easy to follow. It even turned out really pretty instead of like one of those "nailed it" photos you see. You know the ones I'm talking about.
I read through all of the tips before starting the cake and I felt like they were helpful, although besides making sure your cheesecake has time to chill and set I think you probably could make this alright without reading them as thoroughly as I did.
I started with the peanut butter cheesecake section and Oh.My. The smell that filled my kitchen was almost enough to make me want to start eating things with raw eggs... almost mind you, I'm still firmly in the don't eat raw eggs camp thanks to my momma. (Hi mom!) So the cheesecake batter all made it to the pan without being tested. I mean just look at this yumminess.
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| Oh so tempting... |
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| Then I remember these |
In order to get the parchment paper to stay, which I always seem to have a hard time with, I tucked it around the bottom of the pan and then attached the sides as a way to hold it in. I trimmed off the excess paper underneath and was ready to go. This did take a few tries to get the pan put together right, but I think it made the process of filling it with batter much simpler for me.
I baked the cheesecake the day before I was going to serve this and then I went ahead and baked the cake too. I am a passionate non-coffee lover. I mean like I don't love it or even like it a little, so adding coffee to the batter took some gusto for me but with some encouragement from the coffee drinking hubby I did it. I must say, the original recipe notes were right, you really couldn't taste it in the end. (I neglected to take photos of the cake baking process, boo)
The next day I pulled out the cheesecake and cake layers and went to work assembling. One cake layer, topped with the cheesecake, topped with the other cake layer. I could have stopped there and been pretty happy! HA!
After assembling and centering them all up as best I could I grabbed a serrated knife and went to work trimming down the cheesecake to the same size as the cake layers. I might or might not have tried a few pieces of the cheesecake shavings as I went.. and there may or may not have been noises of yumminess coming from my kitchen table around this time.
After assembling and trimming I whipped up the frosting and grabbed a spatula and an offset spatula to slather on a nice layer all around the cake.
I know any frosting lovers out there are gasping and your jaws have just dropped. See the thing is, I've never been a fan of massive amounts of frosting. Even this incredibly yummy frosting which I totally licked off the spatula when I was done.
I like it but I don't want it overwhelming everything else and in my experience almost all frosting recipes leave me with way too much for my liking. So there you have it. For us a half recipe was perfect. I generously frosted the cake and still had some left over for decorating. Even after decorating, I'd say a few tablespoons were still leftover.
Making the ganache was a new experience for me, but it was so simple and really cool to see it all melt together after whisking it. It poured so smoothly over the chilled cake too. I have a feeling I will be making this ganache again for other recipes.
After the ganache was set I did a little decorating. I don't have a decorating bag so for that part I just used a quart sized zipper storage bag with the corner cut off.
Overall I would give this recipe 5 stars. Surprisingly easy (Multiple steps but they're easy to follow) and very yummy. My only complaint was I wish the cake had not dried out quite so much after being in the fridge. My solution was to pop each piece in the microwave for about 7-10 seconds before eating. That made it a little better to me.
If you think you can't make desserts that look like this I encourage you to give this one a try. If I can do it, you can do it!
Ingredients
CHEESECAKE
2 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Pinch of salt (kosher or sea salt)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
CAKE
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1.5 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled (or use 1 cup milk instead of 1/2 cup each)
1/2 cup milk
FROSTING
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2.5 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
GANACHE
15 Dove Dark Chocolate PROMISES (about 4 oz)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Dove Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate PROMISES for garnish
Directions
CHEESECAKE:
Preheat oven to 325. Fill a shallow pan with about 1 inch of water and place on bottom rack of oven.
In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Add peanut butter, salt, and eggs. Beat well
Beat in sour cream and heavy cream, scraping sides as needed. Allow to mix on high for two minutes until thick and creamy and try to refrain from eating it.
Pour into prepared springform pan and place in bottom 2/3 of oven (just above pan with water). Bake for 45 minutes then turn oven off and let cheesecake sit in oven for additional 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Once cool, refrigerate in pan until ready to assemble. Or you can remove from pan and freeze for later use (Thaw in fridge if frozen
CHOCOLATE CAKE:
Spray two 9 inch (or 8 inch if you're like me) pans with baking spray (or grease and flour). Set aside and preheat oven to 350.
In bowl combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
In measuring cup combine cooled coffee with milk (or use 1 cup of milk instead of using coffee at all). Set aside.
In large bowl beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes with electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Slowly alternate adding dry ingredients and coffee/milk mixture (about 3 additions of each).
Once all ingredients added, beat mixture for about 2-3 minutes until fluffy, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
Divide cake batter into two pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove and cool about 10 minutes in pan. Invert onto wire rack and cool completely. And again try not to eat them right then and there. mmm warm cake.
FROSTING:
Beat butter for about 3 minutes with electric mixer until pale in color, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
Add in peanut butter, sugar and milk. Beat additional 3-5 minutes until frosting is fluffy and well blended.
Frost cake with generous layer, reserving a little for decorating.
Refrigerate frosted cake while making ganache.
GANACHE:
Unwrap 15 Dove Dark Chocolate PROMISES and place in microwave safe glass bowl. Add cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir then heat for additional 30 seconds. Use a whisk to quickly stir until smooth.
Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.
ASSEMBLY:
On cake plate, place one layer of chocolate cake. Add cheesecake on top, then top with second layer of chocolate cake. (If you were like me and had different size pans, get out your serrated knife and commence to carving away the yummy pieces of extra cheesecake until the edges of all three layers are the same size. Be sure to have a container on hand to store them for snacks later!)
Spread frosting on sides and top of cake in thick layer and refrigerate while preparing ganache.
Pour cooled ganache over center of cake and smooth out to edges, allowing to drip down sides of cake.
Use reserved frosting to pipe swirl or other decorations on top and around bottom of cake. If you don't have decorating tools on hand just use a small plastic food storage bag with the corner cut off.
Use unwrapped Chocolate/Peanut Butter PROMISES to decorate if desired.
Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Enjoy!
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