It's amazing. That's all I have to say about it. Make it and see for yourself
Cake:
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 1/4 c. water
1/2 c. applesauce
3 eggs
Frosting
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. vanilla pudding (I used a snack pac)
For the Cake:
preheat the oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients for the cake in a mixing bowl. Pour into 2 greased 8 inch cake rounds.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then take them out of the pan and cool completely on wire wracks.
Slice the cake lengthwise to even out the top. So when you stack the cake it sits nicely on top of each other and doesn't have a puffy middle.
Then slice each piece in half lengthwise. So you will have 4 layers.
For the frosting:
Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.
Beat the whipping cream in another bowl. Whip until medium peaks form.
Fold the peanut butter mix into the whip cream.
Mix 1 1/2 c. of the frosting with the pudding. This will be the filling.
Assembly:
Lay a layer of cake on a cake pedestal. Place pieces of parchment paper under the edges of the cake. This will prevent the plate from getting dirty with the frosting.
Use 1/3 of the filling for the top of the layer. Then a layer of cake, then add more filling. And repeat until 4 layers of cake and 3 layers of frosting are done.
Use the peanut butter frosting to spread a thin layer all around the cake. Then use the rest of the frosting to do a very thick layer of frosting around the cake. The thin layer helps control all the crumbs that get picked up on the knife. So the thick layer wont have any crumbs running throughout it.
Top the cake with some mini chocolate chips and crushed peanuts. This gives it an extra touch! And it is impossible to not snack on the chopped nuts and chocolate...As you can see