I have to honest, this cake gets me going, it is so darn delicious! My boyfriend and I are very opposite, from our appearance to our personalities, we are pretty ying and yang, but as you know opposites attract! Something we do have in common, besides our names (Danielle and Daniel), is we LOVE Peanut butter and chocolate together, so back in September I came up with this recipe for Dan's birthday. We are two weeks away from Christmas now and this is the perfect cake to give as gifts to coworkers, neighbors, mailmen..whomever! It is made in a large rectangular pan, so you can cut it into big squares and pack them into nice little boxes tied with holiday ribbon. If you are not a peanut butter person you can leave it out and it just becomes a double chocolate crumb cake! Enjoy!

Ingredients-

For the cake-

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter (I use Skippy)

For the Chocolate Crumbs-

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
3/8 cup cocoa powder
¼ cup confectioner's sugar

Steps-

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13inch x 9inch pan or a "jelly-roll" pan ( a pan about 15-inch by 10-inch by 2-inch) if you'd like, by greasing the pan generously with butter and dusting it with flour. You can also line the bottom with parchment paper after you butter it if you are worried about it sticking.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Set aside.

In a stand mixer or using an electric hand beater, cream the butter and sugars together. Once the butter mixture is nice and light add the eggs one at a time until they are fully incorporated. Next add the vanilla.

Next add the dry ingredients into the butter/egg mixture alternating with the sour cream.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Place the peanut butter into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave it for about 30 seconds or until it is liquidy. Drizzle the peanut butter all over the cake and then use a butter knife to swirl it lightly around the cake. You want to see the peanut butter so do not mix it completely into the batter.

Place the cake into the oven and bake at 350 degrees (F) for 15 minutes. While cake is baking, make chocolate crumb topping as follows:

In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 ¼ cups sugar, and 3/8 cup cocoa powder. Add 2 sticks melted butter and stir until mixture is thick and workable.

With your hands, pinch off chunks of the chocolate crumb mixture and place them on top of the partially-baked chocolate cake. Continue until all of the chocolate mixture is used and the cake is evenly covered. Return the cake to a 350 degree (F) oven, and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven. Do not over bake, you want it to be a little fudgy inside, but make sure it is set!

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely. Dust the top with the confectioners sugar and enjoy! For an added touch, melt 1 cup of peanut butter chips (reeses makes them in the baking isle), in the microwave with 1 teaspoon of crisco shortening and then drizzle it over the top of the cake. Once it hardens and cools enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crumb Cake