Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter 1-2-3-4 Cake

Yesterday was my husband's birthday and he has a favorite cake from his childhood that his mom makes.  I've made it before but just used boxed cake mix to recreate it.  And while that is still yummy, it's not the cake he grew up on so this year I got the recipe from his mom and finally made it the "right" way.  In years past when I would ask for the recipe, his mom would always say nonchalantly, "It's just a 1-2-3-4 cake," like everyone knew what that was.  I, however, did not.  Hence the boxed-cake cakes I've made.  I looked up a 1-2-3-4 cake recipe online and found a version of it from Paula Deen.  But I like my mother-in-law's recipe better.  Thought it was worth sharing with you all...it IS pretty yummy!

It's a vanilla cake with peanut butter icing on the inside and chocolate icing covering it.  The cake you make from scratch but for the icing, I use good old Duncan Hines...with a peanut butter twist!

Chocolate Peanut Butter 1-2-3-4 Cake

Preheat oven to 375.

For the cake:

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

4 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

• Thoroughly cream butter and sugar. 
• Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. 
• Add dry ingredients alternately with combined milk and vanilla. 
• Pour into two greased 9" round pans.  
• Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

For the icing:

1 can vanilla icing (16 oz)

1 jar peanut butter (18 oz)

2 cans of chocolate icing

• Stir together the entire can of vanilla icing with nearly all of the jar of peanut butter.  I like to make the ratio of icing to peanut butter pretty equal, which is why I say "nearly all" of the peanut butter.  There is about two ounces more of the peanut butter in it's packaging but it's up to you. Add the peanut butter until it tastes delicious to you!
• Once the cakes have cooled, spread the peanut butter icing on the bottom cake. It will seem like a ton of icing...and it is!  But it's worth it.

• Be generous with the chocolate icing.  I used about a can and a half to cover the cake completely.

Voila!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake!

Semi-homemade goodness!  You can always make the icing from scratch too if you have a favorite go-to vanilla or chocolate icing recipe.  I don't though so I'm glad canned icing hasn't failed me yet!  Plus it cuts down on the time it takes to make this cake.  Simple and yummy?  Yes, please!

*Special thanks to my mom-in-law for this recipe and for raising such an amazing son.