HARRISBURG – Of the 79 entries in the 104th Pennsylvania Farm Show Chocolate Cake Contest, Josh Baughman, 16, of Clearfield won the blue ribbon.
Baughman won with his homemade chocolate peanut butter layer cake. He qualified to compete in Saturday’s competition by first winning at the Clearfield County Fair.
Cash prizes are awarded to the top three place winners; and for first place, Baughman will receive $500. Here is the teen’s winning recipe:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup hot water
Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups salted butter at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups peanut butter
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- 6-7 tablespoons of water or milk
- 6 Reese’s cups, chopped
Topping and Ganache Ingredients
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 Reese’s cups, cut in half
- Crumbled Reese’s cups
Directions
Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare three, 8-inch cake pans. Grease bottom and place parchment circle in pan, grease parchment also.)
Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.
Add the milk, oil, vanilla and eggs to a medium bowl; mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
Slowly add the hot water to the cake batter and mix at a low speed until well combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with only a few crumbs.
Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, and then remove from pans to cool completely.
Frosting
Combine butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Add about ½ of the confectioner’s sugar and mix until it’s smooth.
Add three tablespoons of the water or milk and mix until its smooth. Add the remaining sugar, mixing until smooth and then more water/milk to achieve desired frosting consistency.
Ganache
Place chocolate chips into a heat-proof bowl. Heat heavy cream in the microwave until it’s just boiling. Pour cream over the chocolate chips and allow it to stand for a few minutes. Whisk until its smooth.
Cake Assembly
Place the first cake layer on a cake board. Top with about one cup of frosting and smooth into an even layer.
Add about half the chopped Reese’s cups to the top and press them into the frosting. Spread a small amount of frosting on top so that the next cake layer will stick.
Repeat for the second cake layer, then place the final cake layer on top. Smooth out the frosting on the sides to create a thin crumb coat.
Add about one cup of frosting to the top of the cake and smooth into an even layer. Frost the sides of the cake, and decorate as desired.
Apply ganache to the edges of the cake, allowing it to drizzle down the sides. Fill in the top of the cake and smooth ganache into an even layer; allow it to firm about 10 minutes.
Decorate with remaining frosting, Reese’s halves and crumbled Reese’s.
Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve it. Serve at room temperature.