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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake (and Early Father's Day)

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Sometimes there are recipe ideas that I just can't get out of my head. For me lately, it's been the combination of cake and cheesecake. I've seen cakes like this, but I've been too nervous to try them until now. All I really needed, though, was a weekend with some extra time and an actual reason to make it so it's not just sitting around for me to eat by myself for a week.


Yesterday we celebrated an early Father's Day with my dad since we won't be around on the actual holiday. My dad likes chocolate and peanut butter, so it seemed like the perfect excuse to finally make this cake.


My favorite part about experimental recipes is that I can combine parts of all different recipes, changing things up as I desire, and it will hopefully all come together for a beautiful and delicious dessert.


For the cake I used a doctored up milk chocolate box mix. It comes out extremely moist and solid - perfect for this layered cake.


The second layer is peanut butter cheesecake. This is the part I was most nervous about because I've never made a crustless cheesecake before and assumed it would be a disaster. I lined the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper and heavily sprayed the entire thing with nonstick spray and didn't have a single problem getting it out. The important thing about the cheesecake, though, is that you need to make it a day ahead of time so it can be completely chilled before you take it out.


I used peanut butter ganache to hold the layers together. If I make this again I think I'll use a lot more so you can actually see and taste it when the cake is together.


Topped with the other cake layer. For some reason my cakes turned out really lumpy. They tasted good, but looked funny.


Okay, this peanut butter frosting is amazing. I was eating it by the spoonful. It really tastes best the first day you make it. I'm definitely going to use this part of the recipe again for cupcakes, brownies, etc. It's awesome.


And topped with more peanut butter ganache. I wanted to try it so bad that first night! Nothing is ever as good as it could be that first day.


I also made cookie dough dip for the party. I made some earlier this week just for the heck of it and my mom requested I make some more for Sunday. It was really good with pretzels and animal crackers.


Both dips are the same, I just added toffee bits to the one on the right. In my other batch I added peanut butter to half of it. The peanut butter was good, but made the dip so thick and hard after being refrigerated, it was hard to eat as a dip.


I also made bagel dip because that's what I wanted. Greg's cousin made some at our lake house party last weekend and I ate so much of it. Another very easy and very yummy party food.


Our father's day celebration was pretty laid back. We spent most of the day just sitting or playing in the backyard.


Caden and Grandpa played in the sandbox. Shepard wasn't feeling very well and stuck pretty close to Mommy and Daddy.


The pork chops that my mom and brother made. They were pretty delicious and I don't eat pork chops - ever. My family makes all grilled food taste amazing.


My soon-to-be-sister-in-law stirring the Chinese Chicken Salad.


Another delicious party food. I love party food.


Grilled asparagus and potatoes. Also very tasty! And I don't like asparagus much either.


The dads decided to take a nap after lunch. It was such a perfect day for just lounging around. Not too hot, not too cold.


The day only could have been better if my allergies hadn't been so bad. They were TERRIBLE yesterday. I could barely breathe or see. No fun.


Back to the cake quick. It didn't look as pretty the second day after I had it covered in plastic wrap. But it still tasted pretty good. Very rich, though. It probably wasn't very smart to eat it immediately after lunch. None of us were hungry enough to really enjoy it.



I did have a second small piece later last night when I was hungrier. It is so good. The cheesecake layer makes it special. I love how perfect it looked on the inside. As much as I love to bake, I'm not that great with cakes, so I get excited when a recipe turns out so well!


Back outside enjoying the day.


Shepard looked like this most of the day. He wasn't very happy. :( I'm not sure what's going on, but he's been crying a lot the last few days. I feel bad for him. He can usually smile through anything, so he's clearly in a lot of pain or something.


I was laying on the hills with the dogs for awhile. Juno decided to join me and eat some sticks right in my face. What a weird dog.


Pip is one of the funniest dogs I've ever seen. I just laugh when I see her. So funny looking!


My embrace the camera picture of the day. It's kind of nice when my kids still show that they need me.

Anyway, that was our day and our cake!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Layer

Make sure to bake the cheesecake one day in advance so it can chill before using. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and flour until light and smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in milk. Grease a 9" springform pan very very well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 260 degrees and bake for 50 minutes. Chill.

Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients. Pour into two greased 9" cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Peanut Butter Frosting
This recipe makes enough frosting to cover and put between layers of a regular cake. You will have a lot of left overs for this particular recipe.

Beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until thoroughly mixed. Scrape down the sides of the pan and add peanut butter. Beat 3-4 minutes until fluffy and well blended.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
Over a low to medium heat mix together all ingredients, stirring often until smooth.

Putting it all together...

Layer the cake, ganache, cheesecake, ganache, and cake. Cover in frosting. Pour the rest of the ganache over the top. Keep cake refrigerated. Enjoy! 

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