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Southern Living’s sinful Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

By Elaine Mellen

Posted on July 8, 2014

I love Southern Living’s magazine recipes. They’re not only delicious, but very easy to follow for all levels of cooks. One of my personal favorite cakes of all time is their Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake. Its delicious, but I couldn’t resist adding a personal touch. I’ve perfected the recipe over the years into what you see below.

On the whole Southern Living recipes are pretty complete, with the necessary steps for you to be able to make the recipe just as you see it on the pages of the magazine. This particular cake requires a few tips from yours truly, so even a novice baker can duplicate the cake as featured in the magazine.

Below are my tips to ensure this cake turns out perfect every time, since that was not my experience when first making this cake. In all honesty, the first time I made this cake it tasted great, but looked like a child had put it together. The mousse filling oozed out from the center as soon as I put the layers together. I was so disappointed!

Tips:

– I’ve been baking for a long time, so I quickly realized that the mousse filling needs to be chilled overnight before assembling the cake.

– In order to frost the cake, don’t simply follow along with the recipe. The cake recipe says to pour the glaze over the cake. That just doesn’t cut it. You need to slowly spread the glaze, working from the top of the cake and down the sides to fully cover them. I cut strips of wax paper and fit them around the base of the cake, covering the entire cake dish. That way I don’t get drips of chocolate glaze on the dish, just on the cake.

– I make my own chocolate cake rather than using a box mix. But if you want an easy, quick, and delicious cake then by all means use a box mix.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Ingredients:

1 (18.25-ounce) package of devil’s food cake mix without pudding (or use your own favorite cake recipe)
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
1 (10-ounce) package peanut butter morsels
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels
Garnish: chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

Directions:

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into 2 lightly greased 8-inch round cake pans. Bake according to package directions. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely.
Combine 2/3 cup whipping cream and peanut butter morsels in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until morsels melt and mixture is smooth. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and cool 25 minutes.
Beat 1 1/3 cups whipping cream at high-speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir one-third whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold into remaining whipped cream. Spread between cake layers. Cover and chill.
Bring remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Add chocolate morsels. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth.
Pour glaze over cake and garnish, if desired. Serve warm, or chill and serve at room temperature.