Chocolate chip peanut butter cake

 This cake. Ohhhh, this cake.

As you may have seen, I made it for my birthday this year - and yes, I always WANT to make my own cake - and I have to say I fell a little bit in love with it.

Being the peanut butter obsessive that I am, I was always going to make something PB-related. Remember my peanut butter and nutella cupcakes, triple layer chocolate, nutella and peanut butter cake, and my chocolate chip peanut butter cupcakes?

I didn't, lol. In fact, I totally forgot about those last cupcakes when I made this cake.

But yes, let's get back to this cake. This glorious, glorious cake.

The sponge is incredibly moist but crumbly and fluffy, chock-full of chocolate chips, smothered in lashings of light vanilla buttercream, and topped with chunks of chocolate praline and chocolate fudge.

Is it indulgent? Yes. But is it so worth it? HELL yes.

Did I eat the final quarter by myself the day after my birthday? You betcha. And I don't even regret it.

I knew I was going to love this cake because it's full of all my favourite flavours (could you guess?) but I was also super pleased because even my friends who don't really like peanut butter - honestly I don't know why I'm friends with them - loved it.

Or they told me as much anyway. It was my birthday after all, they were hardly going to say they didn't like my cake.

It's flavoursome and rich, but the hint of saltiness means it's not too sickly.

Honestly, it's probably in the top five best cakes I've ever made.

I was really worried I'd underbaked the cakes, but actually they were perfect, so don't worry if you feel the same.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Ingredients

Cake:
1.5 cups self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup crunchy or smooth natural peanut butter
1/3 cup slightly salted butter, at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup Greek yoghurt
100g milk chocolate chunks or chips

Icing and topping:
250g unsalted butter, at room temp
600g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate, fudge pieces and sprinkles of your choice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two round sandwich tins.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar and beat using an electric which until well combined. Beat in the vanilla and eggs until just combined.

3. Add the yogurt and flour mix bit by bit, alternating as you go and mixing well in between. Don't over-beat the mixture though.

4. Fold in the chocolate chunks and then pour the batter evenly between the two tins. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out just a bit moist. Leave to cool in the tins for ten minutes before turning on to a wire rack to cool fully.

5. To make the icing, beat the softened butter until smooth and light, then beat in the icing sugar a bit at a time. Once all combined, carry on beating with your electric whisk for five minutes to ensure your icing is lovely and fluffy. 

6. Place one cake on your serving plate and spread about a third of the icing on top. Sandwich together with the other cake and do the same with another third of the icing. Spread the remaining third around the sides of the cake. Top with chocolate praline pieces, fudge, chocolate buttons, silver balls and even edible glitter if your party is silver-themed like mine.

Enjoy! 

My silver jubilee (AKA 25th birthday)

I love birthdays. I love birthdays SO much. I love everyone's birthdays, but of course I love my own the most. Duhh.

I had thought that I'd get less and less excited about my birthday with each one, but it would seem that is not the case.

It was my 25th birthday a week or so ago and I was SO EXCITED! Definitely more excited than I had been for my 24th, and I don't even really know why.

I made all my friends save the date months in advance, I wouldn't shut up about it for weeks on end, and in the week before, I told pretty much every person I spoke to that it was my birthday that coming Saturday. Yup, I'm that girl.

On the morning of the big day, I kept waking up over and over again from about 4am or 5am, each time just wishing it was time to get up (like a little child at Christmas. Or me at Christmas for that matter. OMG YOU GUYS CHRISTMAS IS COMING!)

I just got so into it this year. I had so much fun planning my party and the whole day, and it's made me realise that if/when I ever get married I am going to go nuts. Like, properly obsessed crazy. Can't wait. Lol good luck to my friends and family.

This year, I was blessed to have a Saturday birthday, which we all know is a rarity. So I decided to fully make the most of it - largely by drinking champagne all day, naturally.

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up in my birthday PJs (they're from Boux Avenue and I thoroughly recommend you get some for yourself), donned a tiara and three different birthday badges and started the day opening presents and cards with my flatmates.

We then made breakfast: peanut butter banana pancakes, topped with peanut butter cups, maple syrup and mixed berries. All washed down with Buck's Fizz. Honestly, it may have been the best way I've ever started the day.

I actually used this recipe and the pancakes were pretty healthy too - I thoroughly recommend it.

Next we started decorating the flat with the ludicrous amount of decorations I'd bought and made (honestly, I spent a fortune but I have no regrets).

Being the both extra and basic girl that I am, I had decided my birthday was going to be known as my silver jubilee (well, the definition is the 25th anniversary of a significant event...), so everything was going to be silver and sparkly. I didn't want it to be tacky though, and Pretty Little Party Shop is perfect for tasteful decor. I suggest you pay them a visit in the run-up to your next festivity.

I also decorated my cake, which I'd baked earlier. People are always like, "OMG why do you make your own cake? Someone should make it for you." But these people don't understand that for me, the joy is as much in the baking of the cake as the eating it. Baking is my fave.

I made a chocolate chip peanut butter cake, with buttercream icing (dusted with edible silver glitter) and a topping of chocolate praline chunks, chocolate fudge pieces and silver balls. Don't mean to brag but it was undeniably one of the yummiest cakes I've ever baked so I plan on sharing the recipe with you all soon.

Then it was time to get ready and head out for lunch with the girls - we were off to Duck and Waffle!

If you didn't know, Duck and Waffle is the famous restaurant on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower in the City. I'd been dying to go for aaaaages but it's really hard to get a reservation, so you can imagine my joy when I managed to book us in all those weeks in advance.

It was every bit as fab as I'd hoped, both the food and the view. We toasted with champagne and got stuck in - most of the girls went for the signature duck and waffle, Stef chose a sweet waffle, Frankie opted for salmon and I went for avo and scrambled eggs. Cos brunch food is life.

And after a long, late lunch, we went back to mine to eat cake, drink more champagne, open more presents, finish decorating the flat, get a Franco Manca pizza delivery (yes, there was lots of eating, but one has to line one's stomach well when drinking) and beautify ourselves for the evening's festivities.

Mmm cake. Mmm pizza.

The day of birthday deliciousness continues thanks to @francomancapizz 🍕🍕🍕🙌🏻

A post shared by Rachel Hosie (@rachel_hosie) on Sep 23, 2017 at 10:39am PDT

It was party time! We LOVE hosting parties in my flat because we have a fab open space. I basically spent the whole night drinking from my giant champagne glass (it holds a whole bottle lol) and the GORGEOUS Bottega rose gold metallic prosecco bottle my fabulous flatmate Maddy brought me back from a recent trip to Italy.

In head to toe sparkles, surrounded by my friends and family, it's safe to say I had a ball.

It was just the best day.

This basically sums up yesterday. I HAD SO MUCH FUN! Birthdays are the best. As if I have a whole year to wait for my next one.

A post shared by Rachel Hosie (@rachel_hosie) on Sep 24, 2017 at 6:09am PDT

I'm so so touched by how my friends made it so special for me because they know how much I love birthdays.

It'll be hard to top 25, but I sure am going to try. At least I have a year to plan it...