Dessert

Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Dream Cake

Chocolate and peanut butter with a molten fudge layer underneath. Dangerous stuff.

Prep 5 min HIGH 2–2½ hours Serves 8

Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Dream Cake, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

Chocolate and peanut butter is arguably the most reliable flavor pairing in American dessert, and this takes the molten cake structure and runs it through that combination.

Same mechanism as the Midnight Molten: batter in, hot water over the top, no stirring. The water sinks and becomes fudge; the batter rises and becomes cake. The peanut butter powder is folded into the dry mix so it's distributed evenly rather than sitting in pockets.

One serious note: this contains peanuts. Peanut allergy is the most common severe food allergy in the country, and this is the only recipe in this book that carries it. Always tell people before you serve it.

Why you'll love it

The most requested flavor combination there is.

Chocolate and peanut butter never loses.

Makes its own fudge sauce.

No separate pan, no melting.

Two hours, five ingredients.

Faster than most cakes.

Genuinely rich.

This is a small-portion dessert. Eight servings is realistic.

What's already in the packet

Granulated sugarPeanut butter powderDark cocoa powderAll-purpose flourBrown sugar powderCornstarchInstant milk powderBaking powderFine sea saltVanilla powder

Peanut butter powder and dark cocoa together, with the sugars and leavening already balanced.

Choose your setting

This one cooks on HIGH

HIGH · 2–2½ hours

Desserts cook on HIGH. Put a paper towel under the lid to catch condensation.

Done when

Edges set; center still soft. The soft part is the fudge layer.

You'll Need

1 packet Cook SLO Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Dream Cake
2 Large eggs
¾ cup Whole milk
½ cup Butter, melted
1¼ cups Hot water

What you add

Large eggs

¾ cup

Whole milk

½ cup

Melted butter

1¼ cups

Hot water

Desserts cook on HIGH. Paper towel under the lid

Toppings & mix-ins

Vanilla ice creamChopped peanut butter cupsChopped peanutsWhipped creamChocolate syrupFlaky salt

Chopped peanut butter cups scattered over the top in the last 10 minutes melt just enough to look incredible.

Before anything goes in the pot

1
Whisk the batter in a bowl, not in the crock
Lumps mixed in the pot stay lumps. A bowl and a whisk take one minute and the difference is visible in the finished cake.

These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.

Tonight's Plan

1
Grease the crock pot well or drop in a liner.
This batter sticks hard.
2
Whisk the packet, eggs, milk and melted butter together until smooth.
In a separate bowl. Peanut butter powder needs proper whisking to hydrate.
3
Pour the batter into the crock pot and spread it flat.
Even layer.
4
Pour the hot water gently over the top and do not stir.
The water becomes the fudge layer. Stirring ruins it.

Right before you serve

Finishing touches

Turn it off and let it stand 15 minutes with the lid off.

The center sets as it rests.

Spoon from the pot, scooping fudge from the bottom over each serving.

Get down to the sauce.

Stirring

Do not stir once the lid is on

Cakes, cobblers and puddings set in layers. Stirring collapses the separation between the cake and the sauce underneath, and you end up with one uniform wet layer instead of two good ones.

Swaps and add-ins

Add peanut butter cups.

Chopped, scattered on top in the last 10 minutes.

Swirl in real peanut butter.

Three tablespoons dolloped on the batter before the water goes on.

Add chocolate chips.

Half a cup over the batter.

Make it mocha.

Hot coffee instead of hot water.

Tips for success

Contains peanuts — always say so. This is the only peanut recipe in the book and peanut allergy is the most common severe one. Tell people.
Do not stir after the water. Same rule as every molten cake. The layers are the recipe.
Whisk the batter properly. Peanut butter powder clumps more than cocoa does. Get it smooth.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Vanilla ice cream, while it's hot.

The temperature contrast is what makes a molten cake worth making.

A pinch of flaky salt.

Salt on peanut butter and chocolate is a genuine improvement, not a garnish.

Chopped salted peanuts.

Crunch against all that soft. It's the missing texture.

Serve it over

Warm with vanilla ice creamWith chopped peanut butter cupsDrizzled with chocolate syrup

Tomorrow night

Warm it up.

Twenty seconds in the microwave.

Milkshake.

Blended with vanilla ice cream and milk.

Sundae base.

Crumbled in the bottom of a glass with ice cream over it.

Cold, like a brownie.

It sets dense and fudgy overnight.

Keeping it

Fridge

Covered, up to 3 days

Freezer

Not recommended — the sauce layer separates.

Reheating

Twenty seconds in the microwave, no more.

Questions people ask

Recipe card