Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Cake

4.50 from 14 votes

Totally decadent cake for chocolate and peanut butter lovers! Serve slivers for individual servings- it's rich!

Prep Time1

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake cake, chocolate peanut butter cake, chocolate peanut butter cup cheesecake cake, peanut butter cup cake

Servings: servings

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. It's also nice if you can line it with a round of parchment paper, if you have it. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Mix in the sugar, then beat in the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Keep mixing until everything is nice and smooth. If you'd like to have Reeses in the cheesecake, stir them in now. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until it is no longer super wiggly in the middle when you (gently) shake the pan. A tiny bit of wiggle is fine, but if there's a lot then it's not quite done yet. It should take between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes to bake the cheesecake until done (it's completely okay if the cheesecake happens to crack- it will not be noticeable in the cake). Remove from the oven and let cool on the counter. Transfer to the freezer and keep frozen until ready to assemble the cake.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large mixer bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in water (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and peanut butter. Beat until smooth and well-combined. Mix in 1/4 cup milk, then add in the sugar a little at a time until it is all mixed in. Sprinkle in a little more milk, if needed, and continue to beat until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. It should be creamy and delicious!

Place one cake layer into the center of a cake plate or platter. Lightly frost the first layer of cake. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, take off the sides of the pan, and slide a knife under the the cheesecake to release it from the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to trim the cheesecake around the edges, as needed to match the size of your cake layers (see *Tips). Place the cheesecake layer on top of the first cake layer. Lightly frost the cheesecake layer. Place the second cake layer on top of the cheesecake.

Scoop a good amount of frosting onto the top of the cake. Use a flat spatula to spread the frosting smoothly across the top and down the sides. For the ganache: Cook the chocolate chips, heavy cream, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Set aside until slightly cool to the touch, and then drizzle over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Sprinkle Reeses on top.
Refrigerate this cake until ready to serve (see tips below for serving and storage).

*Measure your cheesecake layer against the cake layers. If the cheesecake layer turns out to be slightly larger size round than your cake layers, move it to a cutting board and use a knife to gently shave off some of the exterior of the cheesecake.
*If you are serving this cake at a party, it’s perfectly okay to leave the cake at room temperature for a couple of hours (the cheesecake thaws very quickly). Otherwise, keep it stored in the refrigerator. It also freezes perfectly. Freeze it as is, then wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer until it is needed. Leftover slices may also be wrapped and frozen.