Paula Deen's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Hubby's birthday is coming up next Sunday. His favorite sweet treat is chocolate peanut butter cups. When I found this recipe I knew it was THE cake to celebrate his birthday. Hopefully he'll enjoy the cake as much as he enjoys those chocolate peanut butter cups!

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour*
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder*
• 1 teaspoon salt*
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• Peanut butter (at least 1/2 cup; if using more, decrease shortening by an equal amount)
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Frosting:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup peanuts, salted**
• 2 cap-fulls vanilla extract

*I plan to substitute self rising flour for the all purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. This will simplify this recipe a bit.
**I plan to dust the cake top with finely chopped peanuts instead of mixing the whole peanut in the frosting.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F if baking with a metal dish; 325 degrees F if using a glass dish.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat mixture with electric mixer on low until moistened, and then beat on medium for 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. Bake in greased 9-inch by 13-inch pan for 30 to 35 minutes. Do not remove from pan to cool.

For the frosting: mix all of the ingredients together. Pour into a saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Cool slightly. With a wooden spoon handle, poke a few holes in the cake, and then pour the warm frosting over it.

UPDATE: This cake is FABULOUS. It is moist and heavy so start with a small piece! I baked two 9" rounds and slathered whipped peanut butter in between the layers. I also used my Magic Bullet to chop my peanuts into an almost powder like consistency then dusted the top of the frost drizzled cake.