GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Wednesday is National Chocolate Cake Day, so 13 ON YOUR SIDE is celebrating with a recipe that we know you are going to want to try at home.
If you watch Good Morning America, you might remember that back in 2016 West Michigan cookbook author Gina Ferwerda won their chocolate cake contest with her decadent pretzel crusted chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
All eyes were on Gina's cake when she won and now she is sharing her recipe!
Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Cake with a Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients:
Pretzel Crust
2 cups pretzels, finely crushed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 cup French vanilla coffee
Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (or chocolate almond milk or cold brew coffee)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with a non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together the pretzels, sugar, butter and egg. Add to the bottom of the pan, press down for even distribution.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda together. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter on high speed using the paddle attachment, until creamy. Turn mixer to low and slowly add the eggs, vanilla, milk, and coffee. Beat for 2-3 minutes. Add the dry flour ingredients and beat until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides, as necessary. Continue to mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Pour the cake mixture over the pretzel crust and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes clean. Let cool.
To make the frosting, add all the ingredients together and beat until creamy.
Frost the cake when cooled, then cut into desired servings. Refrigerate remaining cake.
Note: Feel free to line the entire pan with parchment paper beforehand. When the cake is done baking, it will be easy to pull out, frost and cut.
Tip: For a shortcut, feel free to use a boxed chocolate cake (I prefer a Devil’s Food Cake Mix), but make the pretzel crust and peanut butter frosting home made.
For more recipes like this one, visit Gina's website.
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