This is an old cake recipe that makes a cake with a mild peanut flavor, and the wonderful fudgy peanut butter icing is the best part! We used the Kitchen Aid 3B to make the batter, so we took a little tour of mixer while we had it in service.
[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 14pt]Nobody is more unskilled at baking than I am. If Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines were in my kitchen they'd call me a klutz, but I am going to try my hand at this cake. A while back I bought this guide that's supposed to allow you to cut cake layers in halves and even smaller so you can do those deserts that are more frosting than cake. Peanut Butter would be great. I even purchased one of those turntables for applying and smoothing frosting. I think I will use a frosting recipe that doesn't harden up quite so fast although I love the kind that firms-up like fudge...yum! Depending on what the finished cake looks like I may take a photo...or I could go buy a cake and lie.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 14pt]KitchenAid calls the way their stand mixers do their thing "planetary action".[/COLOR]
Great job Kevin and Ralph! I always enjoy your videos. I like the idea of using a cooked fudge type icing on the sheet cake. It looks delicious.
And I loved your demo of the vintage KA stand mixer. Looks like the old style beater would take the place of both the whisk and beater of the newer KA's, and maybe even be a better design. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Eddie
As mentioned in private messaging, your posts and recipes are always keepers. I plan to bake this soon. You always post really nice recipes and I save them to my "keeper" files.
The old KA 3B mixer shown in the film-A CLASSIC.Mixer fans love those today.Sadly----todays KA mixers are NOT Hobart built-they are Whirlpool built-not as good as the Hobart models.Forget the date when WP acquired the KA home brand from Hobart.
The KA and Kenwood family of mixers use the "planetary" action.If I try this will use my Homemade peanut butter.To make it homemade-just put a can of Planters or Carolina Nut brand in the Blendtec "Twister" jar.Then just blend until the nuts are now---PEANUT BUTTER!Its a little noisey-but so good and made from real peanuts!The Carolina Nut peanuts have a little spicy "kick" to themWould be interesting in this cake recipe-or as chemists say---"formula".
These were produced in the 1940s and was KA first attempt to make a more affordable mixer to compete with the Sunbeam Mixmaster. I like the combo beater whip of the mixer. Noticed some flour took a while to be incorporated in the center of the beater. An aluminum bowl was available for this model In the 1950s KA began product of the model 3C, changing the trim on the top of the motor. and made the beater attachment stronger as well.
Like the peanut butter cake and matching icing. Watkins makes a peanut butter extract that I like using with this cake. I find 1/2 tsp. cinnamon helps accents flavor too. I am guessing all purpose flour was used to make this cake.
Glad that you enjoyed this recipe! I love just about anything peanut butter!
JOE - I love that cutting gizmo you got for making those thin slices! Often at restaurants they have these cakes/tortes on the dessert tray and there are 6 or more layers with all that goodness in between them. I often thought how difficult it would be to slice a delicate cake cross-wise so thin! Now I see there is a tool. A baker friend of mine told me a long time ago that when he split a standard layer into two parts, he would use dental floss instead of a knife because is made a cleaner and more controlled cut. I've tried it and it does work. And thanks for "planetary action" - I can never remember that!
RUSSELL/MATT - Great idea about using the cinnamon! Matt, glad the cake came out well and I hope everyone enjoyed it!
Used crunchy peanut butter, decided to turn it into a sheet cake (which used the same baking temperature and even the same amount of time) and while I didn't have waxed paper handy (& never used w/ the cooking spray) in my pan, I went with the shortening and flour, and despite being wary of my alternative, the cake turned out great, didn't burn or become charred, and is in the ranks of the many times it came right OUT OF the pan; virtually nothing stuck in it...
As for frosting, I just decided a can of chocolate was just as good--here are a couple "surprise" pieces for my wife (she liked, but got too full) and daughter (who I didn't think enjoyed the cake as she openly said so, and it was admittedly dry, but I enjoyed their leftovers, and after frosting the whole remaining slab of it, had my own slice--and at this point in my baking life, and not leaving sheet cakes in the orig. baking pan, (taking them out for serving) I could use a big cake platter!)...
Oh, and the BROWN SUGAR: Had Light instead of Dark as the recipe calls for (my dark turned into a brick, that I over-ly sweetened a pot of oatmeal it swallowed it up, for), but surely there isn't any difference...
Tasted good, and can't wait for it again to be be dessert time!