I was delighted to see my good college friend, Monica this past Saturday. It’s not often she and I get together so when we do, we try to make the best of it catching up on oh-so-much-to-tell over mani-pedi’s, dinner and drinks in the city. Which always leaves me to reminisce our once wild single bar nights at Down the Hatch.
Since the start of my baking, she’s adored many of the desserts I’ve made through photos and as much as I’ve “begged” her to come by so I can find a reason to bake, she’s been busy studying long and hard for her final days of her doctorate degree in physical therapy. Other than my excitement for her major accomplishment, I’m also thrilled she and I will be able to hang out again! So when we planned to meet over the weekend, I just knew this was my chance to bake her something. On request she wanted peanut butter therefore, I made a Reese’s Bundt Explosion!
You cannot possibly miss a bite of peanut butter in this cake! The cake itself has a rich peanut buttery flavor topped with embedded chopped peanuts under a silky chocolaty glaze and melted creamy peanut butter. But it doesn’t just end there. The final toppings are mini Reese’s peanut butter cups along with Reese’s peanut butter morsels. The omission of quantity of pieces used on this cake was intentional as it can be made with as little or as much peanut butter as you wish.
You may already know by now how much I despise long recipes and for those that call for 20+ ingredients. I find them absolutely dreadful causing me to click to the next recipe or simply toss the book. With a busy schedule, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” (Just had to throw it in there) So for your convenience, I broke down this recipe to 5 simple easy to read steps.
I’ve also created a simpler chocolate glaze using only 3 ingredients. Most chocolate glazes call for a fourth ingredient of either vanilla extract or hot water but if you prefer a thicker glaze, omit the vanilla/hot water as this tends to thin glazes which in turn will run towards the floor of the cake leaving it soggy within time (not a positive textural quality). The glaze in the photo was thick enough to hold in place. I dragged some parts to give a more dramatic appeal but you most certainly can do the same.
As for the drizzled peanut butter, in a small bowl, microwave on HIGH 2 heaping tablespoons for 20 seconds and spoon over the cake. Originally I tried using the spoon and found the thickness of the strokes weren’t as even as I preferred. I also had difficulty pouring the peanut butter off the spoon because it would quickly cool. You don’t want to microwave it too much because it can easily burn. If this happens, an alternate technique is to pour the melted peanut butter into a corner of a plastic sandwich bag, seal closed, give a quick twist to the bag to push the peanut butter further into one corner and with scissors, cut the tip. Now you can drizzle over cake with even strokes. And finally for the best part, top the cake with mini Reese’s cups, morsels, or even more chocolate glaze. ENJOY!
For additional peanut butter recipes:
Classic Peanut Butter Cookies & Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
Other easy 5-step recipes:
White Chocolate Butterscotch Blondies & Low Fat 10-Minute Baked Mini Doughnuts
Print
Easy 5-Step Reese’s Bundt Explosion
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 bundt cake 1x
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup honey roasted peanuts, chopped
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup skim milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 3 oz. (3 squares) chopped semisweet chocolate (or 1/2 C morsels)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
Instructions
- Grease and flour 12-cup bundt cake pan. Sprinkle nuts evenly in bottom of pan. Heat oven to 325ºF.
- In medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In large bowl, beat both butters with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, scraping alongside bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs.
- On low speed, beat in milk and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour mixture just until blended, scraping alongside bowl occasionally.
- Spread into pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, remove and allow additional cool time of 2 hours prior to glazing.
- Meanwhile, microwave chocolate with butter on HIGH for 20 seconds. Remove and stir mixture until chocolate is completely melted.
- Add corn syrup and stir well. Pour onto desired dessert or use as a dipping sauce.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
Reese’s Bundt Explosion cake recipe adapted from Betty Crocker The Big Book of Cakes