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Sure you can fill your cake with frosting, but what you should actually do is fill it with Peanut Butter Cake Filling! This is an easy recipe you can use for cakes, cupcakes, or sandwich cookies!
BEST Peanut Butter Filling for Cake
My recipe for peanut butter cake filling will take your tastebuds to PB heaven. After all, the only thing better than peanut butter straight out of the jar is peanut butter sandwiched between four layers of moist yellow cake! Sweet, salty, creamy, and oh-so-peanut-buttery, this filling makes for the perfect addition to countless cakes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
With only four ingredients, peanut butter cake filling is as simple as it is delicious. What’s not to love?
4 Ingredients Needed
- Peanut butter – creamy, no-stir peanut butter is best.
- Powdered sugar – For sweetness
- Vanilla extract – Always buy pure vanilla
- Heavy whipping cream – No substitutions
How to Make Peanut Butter Cake Filling
- Combine ingredients: Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat together the peanut butter and one cup of powdered sugar. Mix in the second cup of powdered sugar (yes, it’s supposed to be crumbly!).
- Add vanilla and ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, mixing until smooth, then adding another ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream. Slowly, add the rest of the heavy whipping cream, beating the mixture as you gradually add to it. It should slowly become smoother and thinner as you mix, turning into that perfect frosting texture.
- Frost cake: On a serving plate, set the bottom cake layer. Top this layer with the peanut butter frosting, repeating with as many layers as you have. You can get as creative or as simple as you’d like with this step!
Expert Tip
- While this cake is served best at room temperature, I recommend that you store it in the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature right before you serve it.
- Any brand of peanut butter can be used for this recipe, as long as it isn’t the kind you have to stir.
FAQs
Yes! In fact, using jam between cake layers can help a cake to retain its moisture.
This filling can be made up to one day ahead. It will stay good for four to five days.
You can freeze cake filling made with heavy whipping cream on it’s own, but once the cake is frosted, it’s not recommended that you freeze it. If you choose to freeze the filling, you’ll likely have to whip it up again with a mixer to get it back to the desired consistency.
Peanut Butter Cake Filling Recipe
Ingredients
- Yellow Cake (baked and cooled)
- 1 cup (268g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (177ml) heavy whipping cream
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
- This recipe is written to fill a four layer cake, so torte your layers (cut each of the 2 layers in half). If you're only filling a 2 layer cake you can cut the recipe in half.
- Beat peanut butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar (using a hand or a stand mixer). Add the second cup of powdered sugar and mix, the mixture will be crumbly. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Mix until smooth.
- Add another 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and mix until smooth. Add the rest of the heavy whipping cream a little bit at a time and beat until the mixture becomes a frosting like texture. (You’ll notice a change – it will go from thick like a peanut butter cup to smooth like frosting during that last addition of the cream.)
- Place the bottom cake layer on serving plate. Divide your filling and fill between each layer. Frost cake as desired.
Recipe Notes
- Use any brand peanut butter as long as it’s a no-stir peanut butter.
- Use any flavor cake – chocolate cake would be good too.
- Use any flavor frosting!
- The cake is best served at room temperature but I would store it in the refrigerator if you make it ahead of time, then let it come to room temperature before serving. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.
This looks SSOOO moist and delicious. I mean, peanut butter filling?!? Why didn’t I think of that? I usually don’t like birthday cake, but this would SO be worth making with the peanut butter filling. I might have to have an early birthday celebration for myself….. just to see if this would work for my real birthday. So, on to my question. Where would you get vanilla bean paste? Or could you substitute vanilla extract (or peanut butter)?
You can sub vanilla, but paste is SO amazing. You must get some. You can get it at places like Sur la Table or Williams Sonoma, or sometimes at stores like Ross or Homegoods (in that reject food section they have lots of extracts and stuff, and it’s cheaper!) Or, when all else fails, amazon. 🙂
Absolutely Beautiful! Can’t wait to try this. thank you for this!!!
Happy Birthday! That cake looks Amazing! Peanut butter filling…I love that! Loved reading your post from yesterday too, congrats on your blogs 4th Birthday!
Thank you so much Katie!
Would love to be able to e-mail some of these to a friend, but am not given that option. 🙁
Do you mean email the recipe? You can email a link to the post (above the comments, there is a share bar – a few boxes with the different social media icons. One allows you to email a link to this post, so they can get the recipe!
Happy double birthday to you, Dorothy! I love that Jordan is making brownies for you:) I always try to bite my tongue and remember that my kids just aren’t as neat as I am in the kitchen(not really, I usually make the biggest mess of everyone!) I hope your day has been amazing and filled with love from everyone!
Thank you! And yes, that. Today I realized the coffee box is covered in frosting, lol. 🙂
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