Dark Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting / Cake is from Americas Test Kitchen with a few minor changes

                                                                              


1&1/2 sticks butter
1&3/4 cup flour
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate bar
1/2 cup strong black coffee (hot)
1/4 cup Hersheys 100% Cacao Special dark cocoa
1&3/4 cup sugar
1&1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs + 2 large yolks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray & flour 2, 9" cake pans ( round) OR 1, 9x13 oblong pan.
In heavy pan mix the hot coffee with the broken up chocolate bar. Heat on low until chocolate is melted. Stir in cocoa & stir until blended. add 1/2 cup of the sugar & stir until smooth & has a sheen. Remove from heat & cool. In bowl mix all dry ingredients. I large bowl beat eggs & yolks till frothy. Add sugar & beat until it has a batter like texture. Beat in cooled chocolate mix. Beat well. Add softened butter a little at a time & beat well. Add 1/3 of the flour alternately with 1/3 of the buttermilk that you add the vanilla to. Continue until you have incorporated all the flour & milk, Scrape sides of bowl & mix until everything is blended & you have a nice thick batter. Divide batter between your pans & bake 25 - 30 minutes until done. Let cool 10 minutes then dump from pans onto cooling wracks. When completely cool frost with the following frosting.

                                                                             


                                                      FLUFFY PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
1 stick butter softened
1 cup shortening
2 cups peanut butter
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cups to 1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 of a Hersheys Symphony Bar
 
Beat peanut butter & butter until fluffy. Add marshmallow fluff & beat again. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar & 1/4 cup milk & vanilla beat well. From this point add as much or as little of the remaining sugar & milk until you have the frosting as thin or as thick as you like. I use all of the sugar & very little of the milk but I like a thick, fluffy frosting that has a peanut butter fudgyness to it. Spreadable of course! But you might like a thinner softer frosting. This is hard to mess up because you can keep adding milk, sugar, or peanut butter until you make this recipe yours ! Feel free to play & have FUN ! For chocolate curls let the Symphony bar out at room temp. Using my potato peeler I just run it down the length edge of the chocolate bar & you get beautiful curls.Arrange on top of your cake ! Eat the other 1/2 of the Symphony bar because you EARNED it after making this beautiful cake ! Note: this frosting recipe makes enough frosting to amply frost this cake + a 9x13 cake or use as filling for Whoopy Pies. I always freeze this & thaw & use for one of these at a later date. You could halve the recipe & have enough for this cake but when making frosting why not make enough for two desserts is my motto !