In this recipe, a deliciously sweet and dense pound cake is layered with thick peanut butter buttercream, salty peanuts, and zingy jelly for a dessert reminiscent of everyone's favorite childhood sandwich!
1½cuproom temp butter (3 sticks), plus more for prep
3cupssugar
6largeeggs, room temp
½cupbuttermilk, room temp
1½tspvanilla extract
Peanut Butter Buttercream
1cuproom temp butter (2 sticks)
1cuppeanut butter
4cupspowdered sugar
1tspvanilla extract
3tbspheavy cream (may not need it all)
Additional Cake Components
1cupjam (any flavor, homemade or store-bought)
1cupcrushed, salted peanuts
Instructions
Pound Cake
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Then, butter and flour your cake pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, and baking soda.
Then, in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes until it starts to lighten in color. Then, add the sugar and beat for 4-5 more minutes until fluffy.
One by one, add the eggs to the mixer bowl, fully combining before adding the next. Then, add in the vanilla and buttermilk, and combine again.
Finally, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until combined using your spatula.
Fill your prepared pan just a tad more than ⅔ of the way full with the pound cake batter. You may have a small amount of batter leftover, which poses a few options. Option 1: When baking a typical pound cake, you don't want the loaf to rise over the sides of the pan, so you fill it ⅔ of the way full. To avoid any risk of batter overflow, use the leftover cake batter in a cupcake or muffin tin. Baking time will be shorter than the pound cake, probably around 15-25 minutes, compared to the loaf's 60-75 minutes. Once your cake in the loaf pan reaches an adequate crust color, tent the pan with tinfoil to avoid further browning while the loaf finishes baking. Bake both in the preheated oven, checking at the lower time with a toothpick for doneness. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack as soon as it is cool enough to handle - I usually do so about five minutes after removing the cake from the oven for the easiest release. Let cool fully on a wire rack before cutting, or wait until the next day if possible. Option 2: Alternatively, since I wanted this specific loaf to resemble bread, which does have a very particular edge look at the top crust, I made this recipe a little larger than normal. I wanted to see just how close to overflowing the loaf pan I could get. If you'd like to recreate my exact method to best replicate the look of true sandwich bread, fill your loaf pan all the way with the cake batter. Then, before baking, be sure to place your loaf pan on top of a baking sheet to catch any batter that may overflow. This will all depend upon how much rise you achieve, based on how well you beat the butter and sugar together. I had a few tablespoons of batter overflow onto the baking sheet before the cake cooked enough to solidify and hold the shape. Since your loaf is very large it may take anywhere from 70-90 minutes to bake. Be sure to tent the loaf pan with tin foil as it reaches an acceptable brown color, paying special attention to overflown edges. This will allow the inside to continue cooking without burning the top crust. Be patient as your loaf bakes, and trust the process. If you're not sure the loaf is done by the toothpick test, try inserting a thin butter knife for a better look. The loaf is finished when no batter remains on the knife/toothpick, though some small crumbs or moisture is fine. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack as soon as it is cool enough to handle - I usually do so about five minutes after removing the cake from the oven for the easiest release. Let cool fully on a wire rack before cutting, or wait until the next day if possible.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
Beat together your butter and peanut butter until fluffy.
Cup by cup add the powdered sugar, fully incorporating the previous before moving on to the next. Then, flavor with the vanilla and combine. Thin the buttercream out with the heavy cream if needed.
Add a few drops of food coloring (always start out with less and add more if needed) to brighten your buttercream back up to a proper peanut butter shade. This step is optional, but since the powdered sugar and butter lighten the color of the peanut butter used, I like to recolor it for the proper effect once decorated.
Store on the counter until ready to use, or in the refrigerator if overnight. Let it come back to room temperature before piping.