The BEST Chocolate Cake EVER!!!!

Yesterday I had a book club meeting here at my house.  I needed something to serve and wanted to do something a little more than "the norm".  I  looked in my pantry and found a boxed cake mix and decided to throw a few other things in with it.  I ended up making  the BEST chocolate cake I have ever made- and let me tell you, with all the baking I have done, that is really saying something BIG!!!  I can honestly say this is some of the best chocolate cake I have ever HAD....  AND it was really easy!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

1 Pillsbury Chocolate cake mix
1 cup water (this is 1/4 cup LESS than the box calls for)
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
8 oz reduced fat sour cream
6 oz milk chocolate chips (save the rest of the bag for the topping)

Add cake mix, water, eggs and oil to a medium sized mixing bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 min.  Add sour cream and mix for 1 min.  Add in chocolate chips and use a spoon to incorporate them.  Grease a Bundt cake pan REALLY WELL.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it.  (This cake is SUPER moist, so a toothpick won't ever come out clean, but the crumbs should be cooked...)

Let the cake sit in the pan for 5-10 min.  Use a butter knife to carefully loosen the cake from the sides of the pan.  Place your cake plate upside down on top of the cake pan, then carefully holding the two together, invert the cake pan onto the cake plate.  Top with peanut butter and chocolate drizzles.

Peanut Butter Drizzle

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Add the peanut butter and milk to a small saucepan on the stove.  Stir gently together over medium heat until
the peanut butter softens and they mix easily.  Add the powdered sugar slowly until you reach a good drizzling
consistency.  Use liquid measuring cup to keep a zip top bag open while you pour the peanut butter drizzle in. Close the bag and snip a small hole in one corner of the bag.  Evenly drizzle the peanut butter over the cake.  It will be fairly runny and will soak into the cake and pool at the bottom- this is okay.  (If you want a thicker drizzle you could add more powdered sugar before placing the mixture in the bag)  Let sit for 2-3 min before adding the chocolate drizzle.


Chocolate Drizzle

Place 6 oz milk chocolate chips in a small glass bowl.  Melt in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time.  It should only take 1- 1 1/2 min to melt..  Place in a zip top bag the same way you did the peanut butter.  Drizzle the top of the cake with the chocolate starting with the edge of the center hole and going toward the outside of the cake.  Let the chocolate go partially down the side of the cake then bring it back to the top. Continue around the cake in this manner until the chocolate is gone,, even if you make it more than once.


Make your family happy and try it out, then let me know how it went.  Hope you ENJOY!!!!

(you can tell it was good because the group was fairly small, and we ate most of the cake...)