Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

A little slice of Heaven! The cake is super moist, frosting is perfectly creamy, and ganache is out of this world. A perfect cake to celebrate Hayden's eight birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYD!Recipe from SmittenKitchen
It makes a 3 layer cake, but I made one layer special for Tyler with no peanut butter frosting.

For the cake:
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add in the oil and sour cream and whisk well. Slowly whisk in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. You will have some strong arms.....
Divide batter into the three prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool completely. These cakes are super moist and soft. I froze them for 30 minutes or so before I frosted them.

Peanut Butter Frosting:
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temp.
1 stick of real butter, at room temp.
5 cups confectioners' sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add in the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

To frost the cake, place about 2/3 cup of frosting between each layer and then spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides. I did a really thin coat first, froze it for 10 minutes then did a second layer with the remaining frosting. Place it in the refrigerator while you make the ganache.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache:
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Stir together the chocolate chips, peanut butter and syrup. Microwave the cream just until bubbly, about 1 1/2 minutes. Quickly pour it over the chocolate chips and immediately cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir vigorously to combine. Pour over your chilled cake. Let drip over the sides of the cake. My drips turned out kinda ugly, so I ended up spreading it evenly around the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.