Norma's Peanut Butter Delight Bundt Cake With Chocolate Glaze (Family)

This impressive cake is so simple to make!

Ingredients:

bundt pan

butter or shortening for greasing

3 tablespoons flour

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter flavored shortening

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk**

3/4 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup chocolate syrup

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 350*. Generously grease the bundt pan with butter or shortening (even a non-stick one). Add 3 tablespoons of flour to the pan. Turn to coat the inside of the pan with a light dusting of flour. Turn upside down and tap the sides to remove any excess flour and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, brown sugar, butter flavored shortening and peanut butter until creamed and well blended. (Use a medium high speed, number "4" on some electric mixers.) Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix in. Add 1/3 of the flour to the creamed mixture and mix in at low speed. Add one third of the milk and mix in on low speed. Continue to mix in alternate portions of the flour and milk just until all are mixed in.

Remove two cups of the batter into a separate bowl. Mix in, at low speed, the 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup into the 2 cups of bater. Spoon the peanut butter batter evenly into the prepared pan. Top with the chocolate batter. Gently rotate the pan with circular movements to settle the batter evenly in the grooves of the cake pan.

Place the bundt pan on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. (If needed, after 50 minutes, loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning or burning on top.) 

Remove from the oven and the baking sheet. Place the bundt pan on a cooling rack.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to gently loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert on to the cooling rack and allow to cool for another 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, 1/4 cup chocolate syrup and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Move the cake to a serving platter. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top. Let sit for 15 minutes or longer to allow the glaze to set.

Slice into 12 portions and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

**If you do not have butter milk on hand, you can use sour milk instead. To sour milk, place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough milk (whole or low-fat) to equal 1 cup of liquid. Also, if your container of milk exceeds the expiration date, there is no need to pour it out. Label "sour milk for baking", so no one drinks by mistake, and use to make snickerdoodle cookies tea breads and cakes that call for buttermilk.

Notes: My husband inherited his mother's recipe box. He pulled out this recipe, that he had fond memories of, and asked if I would make it. (He prefers the cake served chilled.) 

Those handwritten recipes handed down from grandmas, moms and aunties are quite special! This one was scribbled in 1974 ~ most likely dictated by a friend or relative. I did some research online and found some similar cakes, but none identical to this recipe. Here is Norma's handwritten recipe:

Fortunately, I am skilled 

at deciphering handwritten 

scribbles & recipes. 😀