The Woks of Life

a culinary genealogy

  • HOME
  • About
  • RECIPES
    • Visual Recipe Index
    • Recipe List
      • Complete Recipe List
      • Holiday Season Recipes
      • Chinese New Year
      • Chinese Take Out
      • Chinese Dim Sum
      • Quick and Easy
      • Chinese Bakery
      • Vegetarian
  • How-To
    • See All How-To Posts
    • Chinese Cooking Tools
    • Chinese Ingredients Glossary
    • Cooking Methods Used in Chinese Cuisine
    • Navigating a Chinese Grocery Store
    • Chinese Hot Pot How-to at Home
    • How to Eat With A Bunch of Chinese People
    • How to Use Chopsticks
  • LIFE
  • TRAVEL
  • Contact
    • Work with Us
    • Press
Home » Recipes » best dessert recipes » Classic Peanut Butter Cake

Classic Peanut Butter Cake

Published: July 3, 2014 By Sarah 24 Comments

Classic Peanut Butter Cake by thewoksoflife.com

Two days ago, Jake–our saggy, lovable Labrador–turned 14.

According to the fine folks at PetMD, that puts him somewhere around 88 years old in human years. We have to tap him on the shoulder to get him to turn around these days, and his joints are kind of creaky, but he still flips out whenever the UPS man comes to the door. Which is a good sign.

But then I look at this pre-VSCO Cam, pre-Instagram-filter photo:

Jake (puppy-bath) by thewoksoflife.com

And I’m reminded of how much time has really passed. How different our lives look now. A time before airport security lines, broken Skype conversations, long-distance email threads, and increasingly frequent discussions about “the future.”

I mean, 14 years ago,

  • We were stocking up on canned tuna in case Y2K plunged the world into chaos.
  • My sister was 7. Her favorite past time (it seemed to me, anyway) was inflicting physical pain in the form of kicking, punching, and occasional biting. Our relationship has since improved.
  • I carried my CD player and CD collection everywhere, which included a very worn and scratched copy of Britney Spears’s seminal classic, Baby One More Time, and at least three editions of NOW That’s What I Call Music!
  • We were all still glued to our Gameboy Colors and the endless enjoyment of Super Mario Bros., Frogger, and Black Bass Lure Fishing.
  • We didn’t know what a Sichuan peppercorn was.
  • I still used a Trapper Keeper for my school notes.
  • The thought of living in China was laughable (due to its far-fetchedness) and frankly terrifying (due to its 7000-miles-away-ness).
  • We had a pink bathroom. And a Hello Kitty shower cap. (see above)
  • My mom decided out of the blue–after years of begging, cajoling, and light tantrumming–that we should get a dog.

Sometimes I’m afraid that the older I get, the farther away I’ll get from those memories, until they’re all ultimately replaced by more recent–and infinitely less sentimental–ones.

Jake by thewoksoflife.com

I mean, they’re already pretty fuzzy–all combining into one big megalith of experience that may or may not have been real, dreamed, or read about in a Meg Cabot novel.

Jake (puppy-bath) by thewoksoflife.com

Where does one turn, in a moment of crippling nostalgia?

One turns to cake. (Or pie. But since we’re celebrating a birthday, might as well be cake).

In honor of Jake’s birthday, I made a classy classic peanut butter cake, with peanut butter frosting. A decidedly retro cake, with very few bells and whistles. A back-to-the-source, sweet, peanutty love letter to the past.

The recipe yields a very moist, lightly sweet cake. Feel free to increase the amount of frosting if that’s your fancy.

Classic Peanut Butter Cake by thewoksoflife.comFor the peanut butter cake:

Yields a double layer 8-inch cake or 1 sheet cake

  • 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk

For the peanut butter frosting:

  • 3 oz. softened cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour your cake pan(s).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold it all together gently until smooth.

Divide evenly among cake pans and smooth out the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and frost with peanut butter frosting.

To make the frosting, beat everything together until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a little more milk (a teaspoon at a time). If it’s too thin, add a bit more sugar.

Spread the peanut butter frosting over that peanut butter cake!Classic Peanut Butter Cake by thewoksoflife.com

Serve this classic peanut butter cake for any occasion!

Classic Peanut Butter Cake by thewoksoflife.comClassic Peanut Butter Cake by thewoksoflife.com

To the 14 years that have turned that sudsy puppy into a very distinguished canine senior citizen–the years that have brought us to the here and now. Happy Birthday Jake!

Our Jake by thewoksoflife.com

Classic Peanut Butter Cake
 
Save Print
Prep time
30 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
1 hour
 
A deliciously classic peanut butter cake, with peanut butter frosting. A decidedly retro cake, with very few bells and whistles. yields a very moist, lightly sweet cake.
Author: Sarah
Recipe type: Dessert and Sweet Stuff
Cuisine: American
Serves: 1 double layer 8-inch cake or 1 sheet cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
For the peanut butter frosting:
  • 3 oz. softened cream cheese
  • ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease/flour two 8-inch round pans or one 9x13-inch sheet pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold it all together gently until smooth.
  3. Divide evenly among cake pans and smooth out the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and frost with peanut butter frosting.
  4. To make the frosting, beat everything together until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a little more milk (a teaspoon at a time). If it’s too thin, add a bit more sugar.
3.5.3226

 

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Spicy Cold Tofu (Liangban Dofu) - A 5 Minute Recipe
Sesame Chicken - Baked, Not Fried!
Homemade Rice Noodles
Share153
Tweet
Pin2K
+1
Stumble55
Shares 2K

Filed Under: Dessert and Sweet Stuff, Holiday Season Recipes, Recipes

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

24 Comments

  1. tammy says

    November 22, 2017 at 11:21 AM

    when makeing this classic peanutbutter cake do i use all purpose flower in my cake pan

    Reply
    • Bill says

      November 22, 2017 at 2:51 PM

      Hi Tammy, Yes, 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour for both pans after greasing them with shortening or butter. Hope you enjoy it.

      Reply
  2. Julija Graham says

    September 7, 2017 at 11:20 AM

    Hi,

    Just a note to say that I loved both the story about the dog and the cake. My husband loved the cake (and had he read the story, he too would have loved it).

    Thanks for posting! I’ve already had the opportunity to pass on your recipe to two other people, and I just made the cake last night. *Hubby likes to post things I cook/bake on Instagram. Rest assured ALL credit for the yumminess that is this cake went to you!

    Cheers!
    j

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 13, 2017 at 6:20 PM

      That’s so awesome, Julija! I love this cake, and we haven’t had a lot of comments on it, but I’m glad you’ve discovered and shared the recipe. :)

      Reply
  3. plasterer bristol says

    October 3, 2016 at 11:50 AM

    This sounds so good. Cant wait to try making this, thank for sharing this recipe.

    Simon

    Reply
    • Judy says

      October 11, 2016 at 11:36 PM

      You are very welcome! Hope you will give it a try.

      Reply
    • Sarah says

      October 22, 2016 at 10:30 AM

      Let us know how you like it, Simon!

      Reply
  4. Sarah says

    August 10, 2016 at 4:24 PM

    Hey Jeff, sorry to hear of your experience! I’ve made this cake several times and am still a fan of it––perhaps we just have different taste preferences when it comes to the sweetness of desserts? I do admit that i like my desserts less sweet.

    Reply
  5. Maureen Brockson says

    September 7, 2015 at 10:45 AM

    I am making a birthday cake for my husband. He wants my peanut butter buttercream icing, but I do like this cake recipe, and will use it!! Thanks you! My four pups will be getting a peanut butter stuff toy, with other goodies in too! The funny thing is, that I am going to stick some raw string beans in the two puppies treat balls because I can’t snap beans without them coming a running!! Thanks for the recipe!!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      September 7, 2015 at 9:25 PM

      Hey Maureen, sounds like a plan! Hope you guys enjoy the cake. :)

      Reply
  6. sara says

    November 30, 2014 at 4:04 AM

    I just baked this today using my own homemade peanut butter and I was so happy with the result; this recipe produced a moist, lightly sweet cake which was devoured in seconds by my family. Thanks for sharing, it’s definitely a keeper :)

    P.S. Belated happy birthday to Jake!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      December 1, 2014 at 12:36 PM

      Thanks Sara! We’re so glad you liked it. Sometimes it’s nice just to have a simple, pared down “peanut butter cake” without all the bells and whistles, huh?

      Reply
  7. CP says

    October 6, 2014 at 1:18 AM

    Was in the mood to try a different cake and this sure got the job done! Was a teensy bit drier than I was planning (on me), but it was still great tasting and had a nice peanut butter flavor. I didn’t use the icing you did- I wanted something more chocolatey and made a chocolate-peanut butter icing and garnished with peanut butter cup pieces, and it all turned out for the best. I’m definitely gonna make the icing at some point though. Sounds delicious.

    I was also touched by the story about Jake- had a lab who lived til he was 15, miss him still and looking at the pictures he looks so much like mine.

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      October 6, 2014 at 9:47 PM

      Thanks for sharing, CP! Jake says hi! : )

      Reply
      • CP says

        October 6, 2014 at 11:41 PM

        Aw, thanks. Give him a belly rub for me. :)

        Reply
        • Sarah says

          October 8, 2014 at 10:47 PM

          Will do. : )

          Reply
          • janet dortch says

            July 4, 2016 at 1:57 PM

            hii’m janet send all recipes ok to [email protected]

          • Sarah says

            July 4, 2016 at 11:53 PM

            Hi Janet, you’re now subscribed to our email list, so you will receive email notifications whenever we publish a new recipe!

  8. Julie @ This Gal Cooks says

    July 6, 2014 at 2:01 PM

    Aww, I love this story about your dog! My pup turned 14 in March. You’re right – so much was different 14 years ago!

    Great cake. I totally swoon over anything that has peanut butter in it!

    Reply
    • Kaitlin says

      July 6, 2014 at 7:44 PM

      Thanks for the kind words, Julie. Hope your dog’s going strong! Geriatric canines are the best kind :)

      Reply
  9. [email protected] in Pyjamas says

    July 4, 2014 at 9:09 AM

    I’ve just discovered your blog on The Weekend Re-Treat Link Party. This cake looks lovely and so does your blog, you’ve now a new follower :)

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      July 4, 2014 at 11:02 AM

      Thanks so much for your kind words Laura!

      Reply
  10. Sophie says

    July 3, 2014 at 11:50 AM

    Such a sweet post! Jake looks like a very happy and well-loved guy and his puppy-bath photo is ADORABLE. Haha I remember taking my CD collection everywhere, too! What a pain! This cake is perfect — our dog is a peanut butter lover, and he won’t get any sugar but if I baked this cake for us, but he would definitely get a scoop from the jar :) :)

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      July 4, 2014 at 5:42 AM

      Give your dog a big spoonful for us, Sophie! : )

      Reply

Welcome!

Hi, we're Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin. We're a family of four bloggers, sharing our kitchen exploits & travels w/ each other here! Find out more.

Sign Up For Email Updates

Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Learn about Essential Chinese Cooking Tools for your Kitchen

Learn About Chinese Ingredients in our Handy Glossary

Learn All About Tofu in Chinese Cooking

Learn all about Chinese Noodles, Dumpling and Wonton Wrappers

Learn More About Chinese Leafy green Vegetables

Learn All About Chinese Preserved Meats, Seafood, and Vegetables

The Woks of Life LLC © 2018 | Privacy Policy