peanut butter & jelly layer cake

Your favorite childhood sandwich combo gets the glam treatment with this Peanut Butter & Jelly Layer Cake! Dense peanut butter cake is stuffed with grape jelly frosting, and topped with creamy peanut butter ganache. 

Happy Monday! Here's to a new week, friends. True to what everyone had told me, there really is more free time during rotations, which is why I've been able to work on so many new recipes for y'all! If you've been following along on my Instastories, you've seen I've been super busy in the kitchen. Before I break out the pumpkin, I wanted to share a little something for back to school season. This Peanut Butter & Jelly Layer Cake is like your favorite childhood sandwich on steroids. Peanut butter cake is swirled with jelly, stuffed with grape jelly and covered in grape jelly frosting, and crowned with a drippy peanut butter ganache. Absolute perfection!

I've been wanting to make another drip cake for a while, and this combo seemed like the perfect opportunity! You really can't go wrong with the sweet and slightly salty combo of peanut butter & jelly, and I knew a PB ganache would be fabulous. Seeing as my entire life basically revolves around school, what better ode to the season than an epic peanut butter & jelly layer cake?

So how's life you guys? My rotations have been keeping me busy busy during the week, with the average day having me out of the house from 6:45 to 7:30 or later. Phew. I value my precious weekend time even more now! I've definitely been slacking on studying in favor of cooking, but I know I'll have to kick it into gear soon before my test comes up! I've been having a blast in OB/GYN block, and next month I'll be in surgery! Those hours will be even more cray-cray so we'll see what kind of free time I'll have then.

But back to cake! This towering beauty is made of thick, dense peanut butter cake that's lightly sweet and helps balance the sugary grape jam and frosting. The ganache on top is seriously the easiest thing you'll ever make, made of just peanut butter chips and heavy cream. So simple! I'm honestly planning on putting this on a chocolate cake soon because, YUM. Major heart eyes. As for the rest, the cake is just decorated with a bit of leftover frosting, purple sprinkles, and some PB chips. It may look fancy but it secretly isn't!

I hope you'll try your hand at making this peanut butter & jelly layer cake soon!

Looking for more drippy cakes? Check out my Pumpkin Spice Latte Layer Cake, Halloween Cookies & Cream Cake, and Gender Reveal Piñata Cake. Happy baking!

{thank you to Life, Love, and Sugar for the cake recipe}

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

peanut butter & jelly layer cake

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course: Cakes

Servings: 12

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• *for the cake*
• 6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
• heaping ½ cup peanut butter
• ½ cup white granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup grape jelly
• *for the frosting*
• ½ cup {1 stick} unsalted butter softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoon grape jelly
• purple food coloring as needed
• pinch of salt
• *for filling*
• ¾ cup grape jelly
• *for the ganache*
• ½ cup peanut butter chips
• ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

• First, prepare the cake. Butter and flour three 6" cake pans. Preheat oven to 350F.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white and brown sugars. Cream for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.
• Add the flour, salt, and baking powder, followed by the milk.
• Divide the cake batter evenly between the 3 pans, and spoon a few tablespoons of grape jelly on top. Using a knife, gently swirl the jelly into the cake batter.
• Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cakes cool completely before assembly.
• When ready, trim the tops of the cakes so that they are flat.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter for the frosting until smooth and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar, salt, and grape jelly. You can add more as needed to make the frosting creamy and light! Mix in purple food coloring until you reach your desired color.
• To assemble, dollop a small amount of frosting on a cake platter or cardboard cake circle, and place one of the cakes on top.
• Scoop your frosting into a piping bag, and pipe a thick border around the edge of the cake. Spoon some of the grape jelly in the center.
• Repeat with the other two cakes. Set a small amount of frosting aside for the decorations, then spoon the rest on top of the cake. Using an offset spatula or cake scraper, frost the sides of the cake.
• Refrigerate until firm before adding the ganache.
• For the ganache, combine the peanut butter chips and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat in 15-sec intervals until smooth and creamy.
• Pour the ganache into a squeeze bottle, and go around the edge of the cake, making drips as desired.
• Squeeze the rest of the ganache on top of the cake to cover.
• Decorate the cake as desired with the leftover frosting, sprinkles, and peanut butter chips.
• Enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge.

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