Smooth, melt-in-your-mouth Chocolate and creamy, salty Peanut Butter have one of the strongest long-term relationships of any food couple, despite the fact they’re so often in the spotlight. Their impeccable way of complimenting one another with their salty and sweet qualities defined them a match made in heaven from the get-go. They bring out the best in one another. True, there have been cases of exploitation: cramming PB & Chocolate into every possible food item in existence from cookies to casseroles (some obviously better than others). But despite the odds being against them, PB & Chocolate have stayed strong, inseparable even. We just can’t get enough of their perfect pairing. So long as Chocolate and Peanut Butter have the support of us adoring fans, they shall continue to dominate the foodie world as a culinary power couple.
Perhaps the most well-known work done by Peanut Butter and Chocolate is the coveted Peanut Butter Cup. A simple but classic candy, the peanut butter cup consists of a sweet chocolate shell filled with salty peanut butter. It’s easily one of the most beloved candies in America. The most famous company for producing said peanut butter cup is Reese’s, without question. However, many other companies and corporations have latched on to this too-good-to-be-true treat and began producing their own peanut butter-chocolate candies. Nowadays, people even make homemade versions. I myself have a recipe for Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, in both milk & white chocolate, that’s out of this world. It blows the store-bought versions out of the water.
Even when a creation as perfect as a peanut butter cup comes along, there is always temptation to make it even better. I wasn’t sure there was a way until the thought struck me to add a little something special to the filling: cake.
This inspiration stemmed from my love for Tastykake’s Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes as a child. These were little yellow snack cakes with a thin layer of peanut butter filling and a chocolatey coating. They were my favorite snack cake growing up, a perfect combo of flavors. However, it was always lacking in the peanut butter department, and the cake was rather dry.
Naturally, my homemade Peanut Butter Candy Cakes are worlds better than anything a brand-name corporation could dish out. A thick layer of moist vanilla cake and gobs of creamy peanut butter filling are stuffed into a thick milk chocolate shell, creating something similar to those good ol’ Kandy Kakes, if said Kandy Kakes were on steroids. These cup-shaped candies are bursting at the seams with cake and peanut butter, to the point that the chocolate can barely contain it. Luckily, this is a thick and sturdy chocolate exterior we’re talking about, not some wimpy chocolate film. As a finishing touch, pretty rainbow sprinkles allude to the fact that these are not just regular peanut butter cups; there’s something special inside.
My little cookies, the only thing better than chocolate and peanut butter is chocolate, peanut butter, and cake. These cakes are cute, handheld, and convenient, but it’s quite easy to eat three in one sitting. The trio is so sinfully delicious, the kind of treat where one bite causes you to close your eyes and drift away into euphoria. The only thing that can bring you back to reality is the inevitable empty wrapper at the end, which will just as inevitably move you to grab another candy cake.
