The Peanut Butter Cake Bake Off

Looking for the best peanut butter cake recipe? I tested 9 different recipes in search of a cake with the perfect peanut butter cake flavor and soft, fluffy texture for peanut butter lovers!

While I don’t think peanut butter cake is particularly popular, I do think it deserves its moment in the spotlight. Peanut butter and jelly is one of my all-time favorite nostalgic flavor combinations and for years, I’ve been dreaming of a PB&J cake! But picking the right peanut butter cake base for the cake always stumped me.

I feared a dry or stodgy cake (swapping in peanut butter for butter or oil at a 1:1 ratio simply does not work given peanut butter’s unique qualities). And beyond texture, could I find a cake that had the right amount of peanut butter flavor? In this bake off, I tested 9 popular recipes in one day to see if we could find the perfect peanut butter cake!

Methodology

• I baked all 9 cakes in one day (the same day of tasting for freshness)
• 36 total tasters rated samples of all 9 cakes
• Each taster rated each cake on a scale from 0-10 for flavor, texture and overall as a whole (see Results section below for the overall ratings)
• Ingredients were measured by weight according to King Arthur (unless the recipe specified weights)

Ingredients

• Gold Medal bleached all-purpose flour
• King Arthur unbleached cake flour
• Kirkland unsalted butter
• Skippy’s creamy peanut butter
• One Trick Pony natural salted smooth peanut butter
• Kirkland vanilla extract
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Results

If you compare the average overall ratings to the last three bake offs, you’ll notice that the scores are lower–none of the overall ratings made it into 7/10 range. I think this can partly be explained by a bit of divisiveness in the ratings, but also that most tasters weren’t blown away by most of the cakes. (Cue more peanut butter cake testing!)

Happily, I did discover my dream peanut butter frosting through this bake off (Cakes by MK’s frosting, which also had the highest average score of 6.9).

Ultimately, after asking 36 tasters to rank each of the 9 peanut butter cake recipes, Cakes by MK emerged as the overall winner! Just So Tasty was close behind with a slightly higher cake rating. And you can see that Molly Yeh actually tied for the highest cake rating, even though the overall rating landed in 7th place. That, unfortunately, was probably due to topping her cake with the suggested whipped cream instead of finding a different peanut butter frosting for consistency. (More on this cake in the analysis section.)

As always, I think there are great qualities about every recipe–my personal favorites didn’t necessarily align with the crowd favorites in this bake off. I encourage you to read through the entire blog post to find a recipe that sounds ideal for your preferences!

Factors

In this bake off, there were a few factors I considered when selecting the recipes to be tested. I was curious to understand whether natural peanut butter or processed peanut butter would be superior, whether white or brown sugar really made a difference, if butter or oil would prove superior, etc.

You can check out the general ingredient composition of each recipe and some of my conclusions below:

Processed peanut butter is easier to handle but not necessarily superior in flavor

After testing these recipes, I now see why most recipes call for a processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. (I standardized my recipes on Skippy per America’s Test Kitchen’s recommendation for the best peanut butter for baking.) Processed peanut butter contains emulsifies and stabilizers like hydrogenated vegetable oils that keep it smooth and less prone to separating in the container. This means it incorporates like a dream when it comes to folding peanut butter into batters or frostings.

However, did the extra sugar and salt in the processed peanut butter result in better flavor? I actually don’t think so! Daring Gourmet is an example of a cake that uses natural peanut butter in the cake and frosting and yields a slightly earthier flavor in the frosting specifically (it’s too subtle to really note in the cake). But Molly Yeh also uses natural peanut butter and I never would have guessed that its more bright, nutty flavor differed from the Skippy that powered the rest of the cakes.

My overall takeaway is unfortunately not very interesting. Either natural or processed peanut butter can deliver great results–just make sure you use the type specified in the recipe because the recipe has most likely been optimized for it!

Peanut butter frosting delivers the most flavor

While we’re on the topic of flavor, the majority of cakes delivered most of the peanut butter flavor through the frosting rather than the cake itself. This makes sense as once the peanut butter melts into the flour/sugar/butter of it all and baked, the flavor tends to get muted.

However, I have a bone to pick with the recipes that think a milk, powdered sugar and peanut butter mixture constitutes a frosting. This will deliver a wallop of peanut flavor, but leaves a lot to be desired in the pasty texture (ahem, King Arthur).

Adding butter to this combination (Cincy Shopper) will definitely elevate it and help avoid that pasty-mouthed sensation. But an even better combination is to incorporate a bit of cream cheese (Just So Tasty) or brown butter (Buttermilk by Sam). To me, cream cheese enhances the flavor slightly while brown butter does distract a bit from the peanut butter flavor, but both are lovely.

I think My Cake School is a nice example of a relatively normal buttercream that is peanut butter-forward. But for something different, Cakes by MK has all the trappings of a normal buttercream but adds 1/2 cup of heavy cream and whips everything aggressively until you have the lightest, dreamiest frosting with a subtle but balanced peanut flavor that I think would be perfect on any cake.

White sugar lets the peanut butter flavor shine

Generally when it comes to baking cookies or cakes, I love a mix of brown and white sugar. The brown sugar adds subtle molasses notes and extra moisture while the granulated sugar can help crisp up cookies and provide neutral sweetness. However, I really enjoyed the clean flavor of Molly Yeh’s cake which uses all granulated sugar (as does All Recipes, Buttermilk by Sam and Cincy Shopper).

My hypothesis is that granulated sugar alone lets the peanut butter flavor shine while the molasses notes from brown sugar are actually unwelcome when it comes to letting peanut butter take center stage. (At least for my personal preference. In future peanut butter cake tests, I plan to test with only granulated sugar!)

Oil is peanut butter cake’s best friend

If you look solely at the cake scores, the oil-based cakes tended to be rated higher than the butter-based cakes (with a few exceptions). Cakes by MK took overall top honors with an oil and butter-based cake, which makes sense–as always, the oil provides moisture while the butter provides flavor.

But the top two rated CAKES (Just So Tasty and Molly Yeh) use oil alone to achieve a cake that’s moist and plush. Interestingly, Cincy Shopper’s butter-based cake reached a respectable 5th place while King Arthur (the only other butter-based cake) landed towards the bottom. This discrepancy is probably due to other factors–i.e. King Arthur’s high egg ratio which likely caused a firmer crumb vs. Cincy Shopper’s high sugar/liquid ratio which helped keep it moist.

More eggs are not better

Speaking of King Arthur’s high egg ratio, that’s the primary reason I chose to test this recipe. With an egg ratio of 16%, it had more than double the amount of eggs compared to a recipe like Cincy Shopper (7%). I was curious to see if this would somehow yield a better cake given peanut butter’s drying qualities (though I suspected not).

Ultimately, my suspicions were realized–I think the higher ratio of egg lent the cake almost too much structure and firmness from the protein and coagulation properties of the egg. It had one of my least favorite springy, slightly firm textures. And after calculating the ratios of all the recipes, I realized that Buttermilk by Sam has a nearly identical egg ratio (around 16%). I also didn’t prefer the firmer crumb texture of this cake and I suspect eggs are the culprit.

My conclusion: the recipes with a standard 2-3 eggs (anywhere from 7-12% egg ratio) is perfect. Eggs are important for emulsification and structure, but too many eggs risks losing the tender texture in a cake.

Creaming still yields a lighter cake

After tasting all 9 cakes, what I was left wanting most often was a lighter cake texture. After all, I personally was searching for my ideal peanut butter cake to use in a layer cake (rather than a snacking cake which, to me, can be more dense as a standalone single layer treat).

Ultimately, I found the lightest cake textures came from My Cake School and Cakes by MK, both of which used the creaming method. This is perhaps obvious as this is the standard cake making method, but just a note to keep an eye out for this method if you want a lighter cake. The grand majority of peanut butter cake recipes use a one-bowl mixing method with melted butter or oil. This can yield a fairly fluffy cake, but it will typically be denser than a creamed cake.

For an even more dense texture, two recipes used what I call the Texas sheet cake technique (melting wet ingredients in a saucepan before combining them with dry ingredients)–All Recipes and Cincy Shopper. In both cases, these cakes were extremely moist and tender–but definitely with a heavier crumb than I’d look for in a layer cake.

Analysis of the best peanut butter cakes

All Recipes: a moist, verging-on-heavy cake with a slightly greasy crumb and mild peanut flavor

This was one of two recipes made in the style of Texas sheet cake: wet ingredients melted together in a saucepan, then combined with the dry ingredients. This had almost identical ratios with Cincy Shopper except that All Recipes uses twice the amount of fat–half butter, half oil. I was curious to see if this would make for an exceptionally delicious cake or if the amount of fat would weigh this cake down.

Unfortunately, it was more of the latter. With a 15% fat ratio, this simply feels like too much fat for a single cake with a heavy, almost greasy crumb and faint peanut butter flavor. The buttercream pairing is also quite sweet, peanut butter-forward and overall makes for what feels like a sugar bomb that’s still somehow a bit bland. Some tasters loved the almost fudgy frosting and moist, dense cake, but unfortunately, this isn’t a cake I’d personally return to.

Taster comments:

• This cake itself melts in your mouth. Great texture. The frosting feels more like a glaze on a donut or loaf cake vs icing on a cake, which brought down my overall rating. Would’ve preferred a lighter frosting.
• I absolutely loved this one. The frosting tasted more fudge and the cake was dense and delicious. The flavors were great.
• The cake was a little oily, but had a nice peanut flavor. The frosting was very sweet and had more of a fondant thicker texture.
• The frosting is highly reminiscent in texture to maple cream — smooth and glossy but thick rather than runny. Very much way too sweet on its own but really good with a full bite of cake. On its own, the cake was pretty vanilla to me in flavor, not very peanutty
• This cake recalls a dry cornbread, while the frosting tastes far more like caramel than peanut butter. Neither the cake nor the frosting suggest peanut butter, so it is hard to tell where it’s incorporated.
• Frosting is too sweet, almost like caramel. We tasted more sugar than peanut butter. Cake was dense and a bit too oily
• Wet gummy texture, frosting too sweet with thick consistency. Tastes like a discount grocery store cake

King Arthur: a firmer, more structured crumb with a barely discernible peanut flavor in the cake and a pasty peanut buttery frosting

I debated at great length whether to include this cake or Nicola Lamb’s peanut butter cake in the testing. Both have unusually high ratios of egg (16% for King Arthur and a whopping 24% for Nicola Lamb), but King Arthur’s is a more standard butter cake while Nicola’s is an adapted Victorian sponge. Ultimately, I decided to go with the King Arthur since Nicola’s recipe is paywalled and felt like a different genre of cake. Though King Arthur’s recipe is paired with their 7-minute frosting, they offered different frosting options, so I sought out a peanut butter frosting recipe to be consistent with the other cakes.

Sadly, my frosting pick proved to be a poor choice. It was essentially peanut butter sweetened with sugar and a splash of vanilla–accordingly, it tasted like a slick of lightly sweetened peanut butter atop the cake. Not my favorite! The cake itself had a bouncy, slightly firmer and drier texture than I prefer in a cake. I suspect this was due in part to the coagulating powers of the highly eggy batter (16% egg vs. 7% in Molly Yeh/All Recipes/Cincy Shopper for example). Because this cake was sweetened entirely with brown sugar, I also think this may have detracted from the peanut butter flavor compared to cakes made with white sugar.

Overall, this cake wasn’t particularly sweet or peanut-forward. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it was relatively forgettable. I think there are better cake and frosting options out there if you’re going to attempt a peanut butter cake (unless you’re looking for a sturdier cake with a really straightforward and slightly pasty peanut frosting).

Taster comments:

• My favorite. I love how powerful and thick the frosting was. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but it sure was mine.
• Can see this cake being great in a layer cake. It’s bouncy, mild and holds together well. Would have preferred it with a less sticky frosting.
• Frosting is heavy and very peanut buttery, which I like. The cake was a little too dry and firm.
• Too sweet overall. The cake is ok (similar to [Cincy Shopper], quite sweet and fat forward). The frosting tastes like straight up peanut butter with sugar. Too heavy and dense altogether.
• What. Why does this cake taste like honey? Is it brown sugar? There’s something about this flavor that I don’t like. Frosting again tastes like straight peanut butter, similar to [Cincy Shopper] except maybe a touch saltier? The frosting overwhelms the cake, but I guess it’s better as a combination because then it tastes like peanut butter.
• I could eat this frosting with a spoon. It’s tangy and peanut butter forward, but it cannot rescue a dry, almost mealy tight-crumbed cake with little flavor.
• This was my least favorite. The cake itself was quite similar to [Cincy Shopper]: more dense, very strong honey flavor (or perhaps brown sugar)? The frosting felt like straight up peanut butter that was sweetened. Overall it ended up being cloyingly sweet.

Molly Yeh: a plush and moist cake with a relatively thick crumb and sweet, nutty flavor

This was a relatively easy recipe to make; the oil, water and buttermilk-based cake can be mixed in one bowl and baked. This cake is essentially the foil to Cincy Shopper–very similar ratios of everything, but Molly uses oil instead of butter. Molly doesn’t specify whether the creamy, unsalted peanut butter should be processed (Skippy style) or natural, so I defaulted to natural peanut butter. I did debate including this cake because it doesn’t come paired with a peanut butter frosting. But in the end I was curious to see how it stacked up–so I included it along with the recommended whipped cream topping even though it wasn’t consistent with the others.

I actually had low expectations for this cake because it was so simple. I was wrong on all counts–I actually LOVED this cake and put it in my top 3. This had an excellent salt level, a good level of sweetness and light peanut butter flavor. More importantly, I loved the plush squishiness of the cake–it’s undeniably moist and soft with a crumb that has a spongy quality without being chewy. The density does feel a bit heavier than I prefer for a layer cake–it’s definitely more appropriate for the snacking cake format that Molly presents this in.

Tasters generally loved the cake but didn’t like the whipped cream pairing, and a few noted that they docked points for lacking peanut butter flavor. I do think this cake was at a disadvantage since it lacked a peanut butter frosting (the key that gave most cakes a strong peanut butter flavor). It doesn’t hit you over the head as PEANUT BUTTER CAKE, but I do think it has a nice subtle nutty flavor that I enjoyed. I’d actually be curious to try this cake with processed peanut butter to see if the flavor changes. I think this would’ve been a killer combination if paired with a peanut butter buttercream (or I’m looking forward to pairing it with a chocolate buttercream). One of my favorites!

Taster comments:

• This cake is a DREAM texture! Moist but not heavy. Pairs so well with the light frosting. I rated this low however because I could not taste any peanut butter. If you told me this was a yellow or honey cake with whipped cream I would have believed you. This would have been my favorite if not for the fact that it just doesn’t feel peanut buttery.
• Wow the the cake is delicious but I didn’t get a lot of pb flavor! Probably my favorite cake overall
• When I just tried this icing, I was immediately bummed it wasn’t peanut. And then I tried the cake, which was the best one. And then together, it was a delicious combo. Ok yeah, the icing’s just vanilla whipped cream, but the cake is perfect. This is not a very peanut heavy cake, and the icing lets the subtle peanut flavor shine. I’ll admit, it might just be just testing well after 8 super peanutty cakes.
• I LOVED this cake and frosting. So yummy with such an ideal texture – super moist crumb without feeling dense! The light whipped cream frosting paired nicely. However, this is not a peanut butter cake to me.
• Good soft crumb, nice flavor but cake is a little dense and peanut butter flavor is faint and the whipped cream is too plain, didn’t go with the cake.
• Good texture, a little bit more pb please. Frosting needs more flavor; texture is totally different. Just whipped cream???

My Cake School: a fluffy, lighter crumb with a very mild peanut flavor balanced by a delightful peanut buttercream

This was one of the most labor-intensive of all the cakes I tested—peanut butter cakes generally tend towards a Molly Yeh-type one bowl affair when made with oil. But this recipe calls for creaming the butter with a long list of ingredients: both brown and white sugar, milk and sour cream, cake flour, butter and oil. Cake flour and a combination of butter and oil have historically been hallmarks of a great cake throughout the bake offs, so I was excited for this one.

If Molly’s crumb was a bit too thick and spongy for a layer cake, I thought this cake had a lighter, fluffier texture more suited to a layer cake. Though I still wouldn’t describe this cake as “light”–the crumb is relatively tight yet moist and on the thicker side, but just a tad finer-crumbed than Molly’s cake. Unfortunately, baking the entire batch of this batter in a 9×13 proved a bit too much for the pan I used and the bottom was a bit overcooked as you can see in the photo. The overcooked bottom dragged down the overall ratings and a few commenters did note that this cake leaned slightly dry, which it probably wouldn’t be if baked properly. Still, this remained one of my top 3 cakes for texture, though I wanted a stronger peanut butter flavor in the cake itself.

The sweet peanut buttercream was also one of my favorites–though sweet, it felt like it balanced the flavor of peanut butter in an appropriately sweet buttercream without feeling like a slick of pure peanut butter. The frosting really balanced the overall flavor for a cake that I would be happy to make again (especially without an overcooked bottom). Another of my favorites!

Taster comments:

• Cake was good and very much fit the phrase “not too sweet”. I liked the icing as well with it.
• Tender crumb with a buttery cake but the frosting was a little too sweet
• The first taste of the frosting is appealingly peanut buttery, but after a few seconds, pure sweetness drowns out that initial flavor. The cake is gorgeously hued but only has a hint of peanut butter flavor to distinguish it from a standard vanilla cake.
• Ok YUM. The dark bottom of this cake might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like your cookies a little dark, this is for you.
• Dense cake without a ton of peanut flavor, but the sugary texture and peanut forward frosting makes up for it. A very fun cake.
• The cake was a tad overbaked but the flavor itself was great! If not overbaked, I think this would have been one of my favorite cakes on its own. Both the cake and icing had a very solid peanut butter flavor – a prominent one without being overwhelming. This cake had the most consistent peanut butteriness in both the cake and frosting.
• Cake has a hint of char, but the top layer was moist; texture is slightly too dense giving it that same gummy-ness as #5. Frosting texture is good (soft with a bite at the end), but taste is too sweet.
• cake falls apart easily but is yummy and moist. good nut flavor. wish there was slightly more frosting.

Cincy Shopper: a homey peanut butter cake that’s soft, slightly fluffy and peanut buttery

As I mentioned above, this is identical to All Recipe’s recipe but with half the fat (just 1/2 cup of butter) and an additional 1/4 cup of peanut butter. It’s made in the same Texas sheet cake style where some of the wet ingredients (butter, peanut butter, water) get melted in a saucepan before being added to the dry ingredients. There are a few small but notable differences in this cake vs. Molly Yeh’s recipe (which is the oil version): Molly adds 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp salt, uses an extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda, an extra 1/4 cup peanut butter and buttermilk instead of milk.

Even with half the amount of fat, this cake was still shockingly moist. The melted butter technique leads to a slightly sticky, thicker, lightly spongy crumb with a nice density. It isn’t my ideal close and tender melt-in-your-mouth crumb that you get from creamed butter batters, but it’s a fun and easy cake. Even though this cake is quite similar to Molly Yeh’s, I think the small tweaks really made a difference in the flavor and texture–I preferred the lift and flavor of Molly’s cake (this cake felt like it was missing salt in comparison).

Like King Arthur, this frosting basically tasted like straight peanut butter (even though it does use butter, unlike King Arthur)—a bit too overbearing for me personally. But they do admittedly pair well together–the spongy, mildly sweet cake is a great base for the powerfully nutty frosting. I think this cake would work really well with some jam between the layers for a PB&J cake.

Taster comments:

• I really enjoyed the cake for this one–a medium fluff, moist and delicately sweet, but the frosting is just too close to peanut butter thickness to be the right complement. I think a lighter frosting (closer to [Cakes by MK or All Recipes] would be a way better match.
• Loved this cake! Unfortunately it tastes more like honey cake than peanut butter cake, but it would’ve gotten a 10 otherwise. The frosting was nice with a a more fudgy texture and nice peanut butter taste. The combination of the honey cake taste and creamy peanut frosting was great.
• Very moist cake – more dense/fat forward. The frosting is similar to if you took peanut butter out of a jar, sweetened it, then made it lighter in texture.
• Cake has good pb flavor, great crumb moist fluffy, icing is thick consistency and too little ratio of icing to cake
• The cake itself is very moist – quite dense and likely has a high fat %, has honey tasting notes. The frosting is like a slightly lightened version of straight up peanut butter. Overall I still felt this cake was too dense / heavy and would have benefited from a lighter frosting.
• Cake was a bit too moist, nearing a gummy texture. Frosting had good peanut flavor; texture was a bit too close to peanut butter.
• A cake so dense and oily it’s mushy. The frosting reminded me of ice cream sundae peanut sauce, just a smooth, sweet river of peanut butter.
• The frosting was too peanut buttery and too thick. Cake was pretty dense, moist and spongy.

Buttermilk by Sam: a firmer-textured, slightly coarse yet moist cake with an incredibly flavorful brown butter peanut buttercream

Buttermilk by Sam was my wild card recipe–this was the only recipe I tested that used brown butter in both the cake and frosting. This was the only recipe that called for cake flour besides My Cake School, along with a mix of butter and oil, buttermilk, processed peanut butter and granulated sugar. The frosting uses a mix of browned and regular butter, organic powdered sugar (Sam says organic powdered sugar is ideal because its made with tapioca starch instead of cornstarch, which melts on your tongue at a much lower temperature compared to cornstarch), peanut butter and a splash of cream.

Between the brown butter and peanut butter, it was a bit difficult to tell if the powdered sugar really made a huge difference in this frosting. But I can tell you this is easily one of the best buttercreams I’ve ever tasted! The toasty notes from the brown butter complement the peanut butter so well for a frosting that felt well-balanced, well-salted, toasted and balanced. It’s not the most peanut butter-forward frosting you’ll ever have, but it was a breath of fresh air among the very peanut-forward frostings.

I wanted to love the cake equally, but I found the crumb to have a oddly coarse yet moist yet loose texture. It lacked a strong peanut butter flavor–you can taste the brown butter more so than the peanut butter. The crumb quickly dried out by the next day, significantly more so than other cakes. Overall, tasters generally loved the frosting but were less enthused by the cake texture and flavor. I think this frosting could happily be paired with any of the cakes.

Taster comments:

• I LOVE this frosting. I would marry whoever made this frosting (although it feels brown butter forward first, then peanut butter. Strangely reminiscent of toasted marshmallow or homemade Rice Krispies). The frosting made this cake higher in rating for me even though the cake itself is not my favorite, a little more dry.
• Frosting was AMAZING. I liked the frosting so much I bumped up the overall score of the cake although the cake itself is more dry and not the best texture.
• Frosting had a caramel note which we liked a LOT. Cake was a bit dry. Combined, they’re pretty good.
• There is a strong peanut butter flavor to the frosting, but it’s also extremely sweet and overpowers the mild, slightly dense cake.
• The cake was dense and had more of the peanut shell taste. The frosting was nice, but tasted less like peanut butter and more like halva/sesame seeds.
• The actual flavor presentation of the peanut butter in the cake feels different — almost a bit more roasty than the others, an interesting extra bit of nuance.
• The frosting was so interesting! This was one of the tops I liked. The cake by itself was also a bit bland but matched the frosting perfectly.

Daring Gourmet: a spongy, medium moist cake with a mild nuttiness and a powerful peanut butter frosting

Daring Gourmet was one of two recipes to use natural peanut butter (Molly Yeh was the other). Unlike Molly, this uses natural peanut butter in both the cake and frosting. This cake had one of the lowest overall ratios of peanut butter in the cake batter (just 10% vs. a more typical 14-18% in other cakes). It’s also an oil-based cake (I used vegetable oil) sweetened entirely with brown sugar and moistened with buttermilk.

To me, this cake had a very un-notable, spongy, medium moist texture. The lower peanut butter ratio resulted in a cake that I could have believed was a butter cake rather than a peanut butter cake. I felt like the natural peanut butter gave the frosting an earthier nuttiness that I didn’t really prefer. The combination of butter and a generous amount of cream lent the buttercream a slightly too-soft consistency to me (I added 1/2 cup of cream total; next time I’d add less). Even though I used salted peanut butter, I think the frosting could have used a pinch of salt or vanilla for flavor.

This was another example where I feel like the strong peanut butter flavor in the frosting pairs very well with the more subtle cake and makes it more than the sum of its parts. Overall, the components make for a solid cake–I think this would be a great cake with a few tweaks.

Taster comments:

• The cake was perfectly not too sweet and paired well with the frosting which was sweeter. The cake had a nice spongy fluffy texture and overall this sample nailed being peanut butter forward without overwhelming
• Cake was great; very moist and fluffy. Frosting was a bit thick/felt just like a smear of peanut butter; leans towards salty side.
• Super peanut-y frosting, and very mild peanut cake flavor. The icing tasted more like thick peanut butter than frosting. Cake texture was bouncy and light. The effect of the two together was a bit bland. Needed a bit of salt.
• This has a finer, crumblier texture and almost savory note to the cake. The frosting easily eliminates that savory vibe since it’s so sweet. But I appreciate that it matches the textural weight of the cake — a good middle ground between being a dense oil bomb of nuttiness and impossible to recognize as peanut butter from trying to use too light a hand on the main flavor ingredient.
• I liked how the cake was more peanut flavored itself rather than peanut butter flavored if that makes sense. However, I didn’t like the spongy texture as much.
• Very satisfying when combined; cake by itself didn’t work. Seemed flat in flavor

Just So Tasty: a fluffy, tender cake with a light nuttiness and balanced peanut buttercream

To me, Just So Tasty is an interesting study against Daring Gourmet’s recipe. They’re similar (both are oil-based with brown sugar and similar ratios), but Just So Tasty uses milk instead of buttermilk. JST has a slightly higher ratio of oil and peanut butter, but a slightly lower ratio of flour and dairy. Most importantly, JST uses processed peanut butter while Daring Gourmet calls for natural. JST is also the only recipe that called for a bit of cream cheese in the frosting rather than straight peanut butter buttercream.

After tasting the two cakes side by side, I thought Just So Tasty had the clear edge. They’re similar in the level of fluff and relatively airy crumb structure, but Just So Tasty has the edge is moisture and tenderness. The cake is also more flavorful to me with the right level of salt and a subtle but present peanut butter flavor. Both are perfectly acceptable cakes, but Just So Tasty would take my vote every time. I also thought this buttercream felt nicely balanced with a peanut butter flavor that didn’t hit you over the head (and also doesn’t scream cream cheese frosting). Overall, it’s a bit of a sweet combination, but a solid peanut butter cake.

Taster comments:

• I loved the cake and its fluffy crumb; nice and tender. Perfect taste and consistency on both cake and icing.
• Greater than the sum of its parts. The cake’s moisture is perfect, the frosting works well with the cake
• Pleasantly nutty, moist and rich cake. Good texture, frosting:cake ratio, overall delightful!
• Cake was moist and fluffy. The peanut butter flavor in the frosting shines through deliciously and is a very nice complement to the appealingly mild cake.
• Great texture, not enough pb flavor. But very plush. Very good peanut butter taste in frosting; maybe a little sweet?
• I would have liked this combo a lot if the frosting was a bit less sweet. I like the heavy nutty taste in the frosting paired with the slightly nuttier cake compared to [Daring Gourmet and Buttermilk by Sam]
• This sample felt like a solid PB cake but not standout. Average/ok. The frosting has a powdered sugary texture.

Cakes by MK: a relatively light and airy, subtly peanutty cake with a silky peanut buttercream that feels as light as a Swiss meringue buttercream

I have to admit I was perhaps most excited to try this recipe. It has all the trappings of a successful cake: a mix of oil and butter, buttermilk for an acidic dairy, cornstarch along with all-purpose flour for tenderness, and a mix of white and brown sugar. This was one of the few cakes that called for creaming the butter (vs. the one bowl mix and bake technique of others). And I was intrigued by the unusual frosting technique. Rather than adding a few tablespoons of heavy cream in last to loosen up the frosting, a full half cup is added all at once along with the butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and salt and creamed for 10 minutes until pale, voluminous and silky smooth. (Note: I did use a processed peanut butter as suggested but I couldn’t find an unsweetened peanut butter and I didn’t reduce the overall amount of sugar in the cake.)

I was blown away by this cake, but not for the reasons I expected–it was the frosting that captured my attention. It’s so incredibly silky and light but with a prominent peanut butter flavor. It almost feels like a Swiss meringue buttercream but without the excessive butteriness that I tend to dislike. It is quite a soft frosting, but it firms up in the fridge just like a Swiss meringue (so if you make this, make sure to temper it at room temperature for a few minutes before serving).

Meanwhile, the cake was one of the lightest and fluffiest of all the textures we tried and paired well with the frosting. Overall, I thought the cake was slightly dry with a subtle peanut flavor, but the combination of the two together was excellent. This was hands down my favorite peanut butter frosting and if peanut allergies weren’t an issue, I’d be using this on almost every cake moving forward.

Taster comments:

• This was my favorite! Super smooth and light frosting while the cake had a nice, light cake crumb (although it didn’t have a strong peanut butter flavor).
• I love how light the frosting is while still being peanut buttery! The cake crumb is nice and light but not super peanut buttery.
• The frosting was the highlight! It was creamy, not too sweet, and had a nice peanut flavor. The cake was okay, had good fluffiness and was airy.
• This is one of the only frostings that did something more truly frosting-like, coming in with a sort of whipped buttercream vibe. Silky smooth texture, and with the slightly looser crumb of the cake, this is my favorite. There’s no doubt it’s less peanut-forward than the others, but after realizing just how heavy peanut butter makes things, I really appreciate that I could see myself eating a whole real slice of this.
• Insane frosting, so addictive, want more but must save space for others, balanced flavor, nice cake crumb
• Light and airy crumb, reminds me of a box cake with a slight pb flavor. Frosting is flavorful not too sweet and light and airy too
• Buttercream frosting is VERY good but the cake needed more of it; cake was not very peanut and a little dry
• Bland cake and mousse like frosting. Appreciate the texture but overall bland

When would I make a peanut butter cake?

If you’re over here thinking: when would I ever use one of these recipes? Let me provide some inspiration. I think any of these cakes would be amazing paired with:

• A chocolate frosting (like this King Arthur chocolate buttercream)
• A whipped chocolate ganache (perhaps an inverted version of this cake)
• Jam, of course, for a twist on the classic PB&J!
• Alternating layers of peanut butter and chocolate cake topped with Reese’s peanut butter cups for the ultimate chocolate peanut butter cake

Recommendations

If I had to pick an ideal cake and frosting pairing…it would greatly depend on my mood. I’m listing my two favorite cakes and frostings below and I would probably mix and match depending if I felt like a denser, more plush cake (Molly Yeh) vs. a lighter layer cake (My Cake School). If I was in the mood for a lighter buttercream, I’d go with Cakes by MK–if I was in a richer mood, Buttermilk by Sam!

• Erika’s cake picks: Molly Yeh, My Cake School
• Erika’s frosting picks: Cakes by MK, Buttermilk by Sam
• Crowd favorite: Cakes by MK
• Best cake for overall peanut flavor: Just So Tasty
• Best quick and easy cake: Molly Yeh, Cincy Shopper
• Best light and fluffy cake: My Cake School, Cakes by MK
• Best peanut butter frosting: Cakes by MK, Buttermilk by Sam, Just So Tasty, My Cake School