chocolate peanut butter pretzel cake

i was really excited when i learned that joy wilson was releasing her second cookbook in october.  i immediately put it on my christmas gift wish list, then proceed to patiently wait for two months. i was thrilled when i unwrapped this cookbook from ryan's parents at christmas.  as soon as i saw the cake on the front cover, i knew it was the cake i wanted for my birthday this year.

a thirtieth birthday requires an epic birthday cake, and this cake certainly fits the bill.  a three-layer chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, crushed pretzels, and chopped chocolate pieces between each layer.  the whole thing is covered in peanut butter frosting, and then then the top is decorated with chopped roasted peanuts and more chopped chocolate pieces.  as if that's not enough, the sides of the cake are totally covered in mini pretzel twists.

ryan and i made this cake for my birthday celebration this weekend, and it was absolutely delicious.  it was the perfect blend of sweet and salty.  we have been enjoying leftover slices of cake for dessert each night since then.

chocolate peanut butter pretzel cake
prep time: 10-15 minutes
baking time: 25 minutes
yields: one 3-layer 9-inch round cake (approximately 20 servings)
adapted from joy the baker homemade decadence

cake ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
2 cups buttermilk

frosting ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cream

extra ingredients:
1 cup crushed salted pretzels
4 oz. chopped 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
63 mini salted pretzel twists

directions:
to make the cake: preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  grease and flour the sides of three 9-inch round baking pans, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.  in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter.  add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).  add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  mix in the vanilla.  in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and espresso powder.  add half of the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.  with the mixer on low, add the buttermilk in a slow stream and beat until thoroughly combined.  add the remaining flour mixture and beat just until combined.  divide the batter among the 3 pans.  bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  once baked, allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans and allowing them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

to make the frosting: in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream the butter.  add the peanut butter and and vanilla, then beat well until combined.  add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until combined.  add another 2 cups of sugar along with 3 tablespoons of cream.  beat well until combined.  add the remaining 2 cups of sugar and beat until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

to assemble the cake: place one layer of the cake on a cake stand and cover it in frosting.  sprinkle half of the crushed pretzels on top of the frosting along with one third of the chopped chocolate.  place the second layer of the cake on top of the first and repeat.  place the third layer of the cake on top and cover the entire cake with an even smooth layer of frosting.  sprinkle the remaining chopped chocolate around the top rim of the cake along with the chopped peanuts.  press the mini pretzel twists into the sides of the cake.

note: a 3-layer 9-inch round cake will accommodate 21 columns of 3 pretzels.  if you stack three pretzels on top of each other in a straight vertical line, it will make it easy to slice the cake, rather than offsetting each row of pretzels.

enjoy!

love, laurie

a new year and a new decade: thoughts on thirty

it's my birthday, and at 1:34pm today i'll turn thirty.  

i've been thinking about my thirtieth birthday for the past 9 years, and now that it's here it comes with mixed emotions.  30 rolled in quietly and modestly.  not with the pomp and circumstance or the grandeur that my naive 21 year old self imagined.  instead it just snuck in and now it's here to stay.    

it's hard for me to let go of my twenties.  it's amazing (and exhausting) to think of what has happened and how drastically my life has changed in the course of the past ten years.  my twenties brought some of my greatest joys, accomplishments, and memories.  however, in the past decade i also experienced the greatest heartbreak that i have ever known.  life sure is a roller coaster.

since it's my birthday, allow me to impart upon you ten things i have learned and found to be true over the course of my 29 years, 364 days, and several hours on this earth:

1. everything happens for a reason

2. life works in mysterious ways

3. things don't always work out as planned  

4. the only constant in life is change  

5. good things come to those who are patient and persistent 

6. where there's a will there's a way

7. be kind to yourself and take care of yourself

8. follow your heart and your gut

9. don't take things for granted

10. truly, the greatest gift in life is love

getting older is so strange.  the calendar says i'm 30, but i feel like i'm 23 (and according to most people, i look like a teenager).  somewhere along the way the numbers got jumbled.  

as i close the chapter on my twenties today, i'm looking forward to seeing what my thirties will bring.  here's to a new year and a new decade!

love, laurie

my birthday celebration!

yesterday, our parents came up to our house to celebrate my birthday!  we had salad, eggplant rollatini, pasta, and garlic bread for dinner, followed by birthday cake and presents.  for my birthday, my parents bought me a beautiful necklace with three diamonds in it (one for each decade).  it's so special and it was such a nice surprise.  by far, the best present was getting to celebrate my birthday with the ones i love.  i had such a great time yesterday!  i can't believe i'm turning 30 tomorrow!

love, laurie

ringing in the new year

we celebrated new year's eve with my parents at our house.  in the afternoon, we had fun cooking dinner with my mom.  we made lebanese-themed appetizers for dinner including: hummus and baba ghanoush with pita bread, tabbouleh salad, and mini falafel patties with tzatziki sauce.  it was all so good!

it's a tradition of ours to see a movie on new year's eve, so after dinner we curled up on the couch and watched new year's eve while eating leftover christmas cookies.  later in the evening, we watched the times square ball drop on tv.  it was a great way to spend new year's eve!

on new year's day, we went down to my parents' house for our traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner. we spent time with our family and i opened a couple of early birthday presents from ryan's parents too.  we really enjoyed ringing in the new year with our family.  here's to a happy and a healthy new year!

happy 2015!
love, laurie

happy new year!

i can hardly believe that today is the first day of 2015!

here's wishing everyone a very happy and healthy new year!

love, laurie

2014: our year in review

here it is: the annual year-in-review post!  i have really enjoyed putting these massive posts together the past few years.  it's such a nice way to reflect back and to close out the year.  looking back over the past year, it's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last twelve months!

here are a few highlights from our 2014 . . .

in january, we rang in the new year with family and we set a few goals for 2014.  we celebrated two years of having leko, and we celebrated my birthday.  we got a lot of snow and leko enjoyed watching it out the window.  i did a little d.i.y. project to make a sleeve for our ipad too.

in february, we watched the superbowl at home.  we got a big snow storm and we enjoyed a snow day off work.  we went bowling, then we got hit with another snow storm and it snowed for 3 days in a row!  we celebrated valentine's day by getting take out for dinner, making a heart-shaped cake for dessert, and going to see the tour of jersey boys.  ryan's brother and sister-in-law had their second baby boy.  the weather warmed up for a little bit, so we enjoyed a walk along the river too.

in march, we celebrated mardi gras/fat tuesday/fasnacht day with some homemade doughnuts.  we also celebrated ryan's mom's 65th birthday.  i worked on a few sewing projects, and leko "helped" me out as i made d.i.y. potholders for our kitchen.  i got my hair cut.  i also made my own graphic print sweatshirt and came down with a head cold too.

in april, we went on a little date to get rita's italian ice and custard.  leko made friends with the lady bug who took up residence in our bathroom, and the weather was absolutely crazy.  we celebrated easter sunday with our families.  we also built a set for a show called "twisted theatre" which i directed and scenic designed.  leko enjoyed discovering our disco ball too.

in may, we took a caribbean cruise from san juan, puerto rico to the islands of st. thomas, barbados, st. lucia, st. kitts, and st. maarten.  we spend some time exploring the town of old san juan before we flew home, and we really enjoyed the carnival valor cruise ship.  i shared ten tips for flying too.  we celebrated memorial day with a picnic at a local park and some biking.  we also took a trip to quiet valley living historical farm and to boulder field at hickory run state park with my parents.  ryan bought an orange road bike at a garage sale too.

in june, we enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful flowers blooming around our yard.  we went to the wayne county historical society's annual secret gardenscapes tour with my parents, and we stopped by prompton lake.  we celebrated father's day with good food and a hike around jacobsburg state park.  we took a trip to north carolina with my mom to visit family friends in surf city on topsail island.  while we were in north carolina, we also got to visit ryan's brother's family and to meet our new nephew.  we went strawberry picking at a local strawberry farm too.

in july, we celebrated the fourth of july at home with our families, and my parents and i hiked around eight waterfalls at bushkill falls.  we went to a local minor-league baseball game and saw fireworks after the game.  we celebrated ryan's grandmother's 93rd birthday.  we went raspberry picking at a local farm, and we took a walk around lake scranton.  ryan found a four-leaf clover too!

in august, we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary by spending the weekend in nyc.  we spent some time in manhattan and saw wicked on broadway.  we also spent a day in brooklyn and rode the east river ferry.  while we were in nyc, we stayed at the andaz wall street hotel and loved it.  we went blueberry picking with my parents.  we also went to the wayne county fair and saw fireworks.  ryan turned 30 and we celebrated his birthday by ourselves and with our family.  we took another trip to nyc to see newsies on broadway just one day before it closed.  we also visited a bunch of the filming locations from the movie you've got mail on the upper west side.  we biked on the lehigh gorge bike trail in jim thorpe.  we went to the italian festival and saw fireworks too.

in september, we celebrated labor day and welcomed ryan's mom home from north carolina.  we went apple picking and took our annual trip to roba family farms.  we went back to the place where we were married for a little dinner date.  we celebrated leko's third birthday too.  i got my hair cut and we enjoyed trips to the local farmers' market.  we went to nyc to check out the new urban space food market in the garment district and we walked all around the city enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

in october, my blog turned 3 years old and we celebrated with a whole new layout and design!  we took a trip to ritter's cider mill with our parents.  we toured grey towers and we enjoyed seeing some fall flowers in our yard.  my parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary and we all took a trip to pohopoco creek alpaca farm.  ryan's brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews came to visit from north carolina and while they were here we celebrated christmas in october.  we carved our pumpkins, had a happy halloween and enjoyed handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

in november, we celebrated my dad's birthday and we saw a local comedy show.  we saw a display of 6,800 american flags for veterans day and the weather got super cold.  we went to nyc to see the rockettes perform in the radio city christmas spectacular, and while we were in nyc we enjoyed seeing the city all decorated for christmas and we ate at max brenner's chocolate restaurant.  we hosted thanksgiving at our house and celebrated with our family.

in december, we sent out our christmas cards and we decorated our house for christmas.  we attended the annual christmas tree lighting ceremony at work, and we celebrated my mom's birthday.  we got several inches of snow and our yard looked like a winter wonderland, and we went to see a philadelphia flyers hockey game with ryan's dad.  we finished out the year by celebrating christmas with our families.

hope everyone had a great 2014!

happy new year!

love, laurie

. . . 

past year in review posts: 2011, 2012, and 2013