Peanut butter frosting

Last week my SO and I baked a chocolate cake; we wanted to try out a new frosting, and eventually decided on a peanut butter one. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I'm now thoroughly won over to the wonders of peanut butter frosting: the savoriness of the peanut butter was a great contrast to the creamy sweetness of the cream-cheese base, and the peanut chunks added a satisfying bit of texture. The frosting was a perfect addition to the chocolate cake, and is this week's end-of-the-week recipe blogging post.

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup crunchy peanut butter (we used a commercial, sugar-added variety)
3 ounces cream cheese, cold
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk (with 1-2 tablespoons extra to thin the frosting, if needed)
1 tablespoon rum

We made this frosting in a food processor; if you want to make it by hand, I'd suggest letting the cream cheese warm to room temperature before mixing.

1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and process until well mixed (everything should be smooth except for the peanut bits).
2. Check the consistency of the frosting; if it's too thick to frost the cake with, add 1-2 tablespoons more milk and process again.
3. Frost the cake.

Notes.

This recipe makes enough to frost and fill a 9"-round double-layer cake or a 9x13" layer cake. As the frosting is based on cream cheese, leftover frosted cake should be stored in the refrigerator; let the cake warm to room temperature before serving. As with most frostings, the cake should be thoroughly cooled before you attempt to frost it.

This recipe is modified from one in Rombauer et al. (1997); we use crunchy instead of smooth peanut butter, and increased the amount of peanut butter.

Rombauer, I. S., M. R. Becker, and E. Becker. 1997. Joy of Cooking. Scribner, NY.

Categories:

• cooking
• recipe
• dessert
• cake
• frosting