Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake Sandwiches

  Guys, prepare to have your mind blown. This looks like your pb&j that you packed in your child’s lunchbox right?
No! It’s cake!! And not just any old cake. Peanut butter cake baked in a loaf pan, then sliced to look like bread. And that peanut butter you see in the inside? Peanut butter frosting!! And the jelly? Well…that one really is what it looks like, grape jam.

I cannot take any credit for this recipe whatsoever. My Aunt Janie, who is a fabulous baker, recently made these for our family’s weekly get together. She wrapped each cake individually and then put them in a picnic basket and you seriously could have fooled me. When I heard it was actually our dessert, I couldn’t wait to try it. No forks needed for this cake, we all just picked it right up and dug in! And these are good…so very good!! The cake is dense, but moist, just like bread, and the frosting and jam in the inside are sweet and creamy.

These cake sandwiches would be so cute for a birthday party, a picnic, as a classroom treat, or whenever you feel like baking up the cutest dessert ever.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake Sandwiches

Ingredients:
For the cake
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 room temperature eggs
turbinado sugar

Icing ingredients follow the cake recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together then set aside the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk and vanilla and then set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and peanut butter, about five minutes.  Once creamed, add the white sugar and mix well. Then add the brown sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Next, add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternately. Beat until just mixed after each addition.

Grease 2 9×5 loaf pans with butter and then coat the bottoms and the sides with turbinado sugar. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans. Cook for 50 minutes and then coat the tops with more turbinado sugar. Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Tent the edges with aluminum foil is the edges are becoming too brown.

Let loaves rest in the pans for 20 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

When cool, cut off the ends of the loaves and then slice into 1/2 inch slices.  My Aunt recommends using an electric knife to get clean slices.

Ingredients:
For the frosting
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 stick butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

1 container of grape jam

Cream together the butter and peanut butter, until smooth and creamy, about five minutes. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and beat well after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until icing is light and fluffy.

Spread 3 tbsp. of peanut butter frosting and 1 tbsp. jam onto a slice of cake. Top with another slice of cake and then cut diagonally to mimic a sandwich.  Store ¨sandwiches¨ wrapped tightly to prevent them drying out. Enjoy!