Peanut Butter Cake

My fella and my mom are both big peanut butter lovers. Chocolate covered peanut butter candy, peanut butter cream pie, peanut butter fudge, peanut butter straight out of the jar. . . it doesn't matter what form it's in. The one thing they each request for almost every birthday they have is a PB cake. My mother's birthday is today, so I bet you can guess what she asked for. To me, the frosting for this cake is the best part of it. I swear, I could eat that and nothing else.

Ingredients
The Cake:
2 c cake flour
1 1/3 c granulated sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/3 c Crisco
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c oily peanut butter *
1 c milk
2 large eggs
*The brand of peanut butter that I usually use for this recipe is Peter Pan just because it is a little oilier.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter, softened
3/4 c oily peanut butter**
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 c powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
** Honestly, I just guesstimate the amount of peanut butter I put in both the cake and the frosting and try to get it as close as possible to the recipe amounts.. 

The Cake:
1) Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

2) In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together, then set aside.

Adding the last egg.

3) Cream together the Crisco and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Mixing in the vanilla and PB.

4) Mix in the vanilla extract and the peanut butter.

All of the ingredients mixed together.

5) Add the dry ingredients and milk alternately, mixing well after each addition.

Just out of the oven.

6) Bake in three prepared 8-inch cake pans for about 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. This is a fairly thick batter, so I always weigh the cake pans before they go into the oven to make sure they each contain as close to an equal amount of batter as possible.

The Frosting:

Mixing the cream cheese and butter together.

1) Mix together the cream cheese and butter.

2) Then add the vanilla extract and peanut butter and mix well.

3) Add the powdered sugar and milk and mix until smooth.

Place strips of wax paper under the cake to keep the plate clean.

4) Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the frosting between each layer, on the sides, and on top of the cake. You can sprinkle chopped roasted peanuts on top of the cake for a little flair. My mom isn't a big fan of roasted nuts and I couldn't find my cake decorating tips, so I kept it very simple.

Enjoy!