Take 5 Cake and Brownies

This Take 5 Cake is what my dreams are made of.  Chocolate cake, dreamy peanut butter buttercream, caramel, chocolate ganache, a bit of pretzels and chopped Take 5 bars for good measure make this cake over the top delicious!

We followed the recipe at Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, but we did make a few adjustments like using my favorite Peanut Butter Frosting recipe that I'll share below.  

A few things that I hope to remember when I make this cake next time, because there will definitely be a next time!  I did not put the coffee granules in, honestly I'd probably find another chocolate cake recipe I like more-this was good but not great.  I would freeze my cake layers in plastic wrap for even just an hour to help them set and be able to cut a clean slice.  We also put caramel, ganache, pretzels, and chopped Take 5 bars in the middle layer to pack in even more goodness!  I piped the buttercream for a pretty look and I think it worked, I used a Wilton 1M tip and a large round tip-next time I'll also use a open star tip.  I just need to remember to hand mix my frosting for a minute after beating it in the Kitchen Aid and maybe add a dash of milk to make it super smooth.

We made this to celebrate Dallin's birthday with family, but you would have thought it was Olivia's birthday by how excited she got!  She loves blowing out candles and the Happy Birthday song.

People are still raving about this cake and wishing  

we'd make another one and we just made it 1 week ago!  

We had so many leftover ingredients I wanted to use them up and I couldn't get Take 5 brownies off my mind.  I used a box brownie mix and before I baked them I added a handful or so to mini chocolate chips to the top and baked them as directed on the box.  I let them cool down completely and then started layering my ingredients.  

I stored my peanut butter buttercream in the fridge so I let it come to room temperature then I put it in my kitchen aid and fluffed it back up with a paddle attachment.  I layered that on first, then the caramel, pretzel pieces, chopped Take 5 bars, and then the chocolate ganache.  They were truly amazing and it jazzed up a box brownie mix like no other!!  My favorite boxed brownie mix is the Truffle Brownie Mix from Trader Joe's seriously amazing!!  If you use that one you don't even have to put chocolate chips on the top. Find my all time favorite go to peanut butter frosting below!

Peanut Butter Dream Buttercream

1 C. unsalted butter, softened for 30 minutes

1 C. Skippy creamy peanut butter

1 T. vanilla
Pinch of salt

5 C. powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 C. heavy whipping cream
Milk (if needed)

Cream butter in stand mixer.  Once butter is creamy, add peanut butter and mix until creamed together.  Add in vanilla, salt and powdered sugar slowly to combine on low.  Mix heavy cream in on high then use a wooden spoon to beat out air pockets.  Add a tablespoon or more of milk if needed to thin down.