Made from Scratch Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake - XO, Katie Rosario (2024)

September 16, 2019 By Katie

Heading into a new school year can be rough when you are transitioning from the summer fun. But this Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake will make going back to school a whole lot sweeter!

This cake is a perfect representation of a standard afternoon snack. Your kitchen will fill up with the smells of sweet peanut butter and tart strawberry jam!

This peanut butter and jelly cake is made with tender peanut butter cake layers, filled with homemade strawberry jam and coated in sweet peanut butter buttercream.

The peanut butter cake is made from a delicious vanilla base recipe that’s mixed with creamy peanut butter. This soft peanut butter cake layer is perfect with the tart homemade strawberry jam.

It’s quite simple to make strawberry jam from scratch. But if you are in a rush for time, then you can use any ready-made fruit-flavored, jelly, jam or preserve. The homemade jam is made with fresh or frozen strawberries, sugar, and lemon zest. Then the mixture is cooked over medium heat, and it’s thickened with water and cornstarch which is then cooked down to a thick consistency. It’s guaranteed that you’ll want to eat this jam by the spoonful when you are done.

The finishing touch that brings this whole cake to life is the sweet and creamy peanut butter buttercream, chopped peanuts, and fresh strawberries!

This cake will not only smell like your favorite PB & J sandwich, but it’ll taste just like one too!

Tips for success:

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.

• In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablepoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own.

• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month.

• You can make the peanut butter buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping. If needed, add 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream when re-whipping the buttercream, it softens the buttercream and brings it together easier.
• To save time when decorating make the homemade strawberry jam filling ahead of time. Store it in an airtight container and keep it up to one week.

• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.

• Be careful not to overmix this cake batter or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.

• Serve cake at room temperature.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake:

• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board
• Serrated knife or cake leveler
• Turntable
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Piping bag (I use silicone reusable bags)
• #844 star tip
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Cake Stand, optional

Here’s how to make this Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake that’s perfect for going back to school!

Let’s Get Baking!

How to Make the Peanut Butter Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, peanut butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
5. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
6. Pour in the buttermilk and add vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed for 30 seconds.
7. Evenly divide the cake batter into three 6-inch cake pans.
8. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
9. Remove cakes from oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely — wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

How to Make Homemade Strawberry Jam

1. In a medium saucepan, mix the strawberries and sugar. Continue mixing with a rubber spatula over low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the berries begin to boil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Add cornstarch mixture to the boiling berries and continue to stir with a rubber spatula.
3. Add lemon zest. Continue cooking the mixture for 2-3 minutes until it is thickened and coats the back of a spatula.
4. Pour the strawberry filling into a small bowl to cool. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to fully cool.

How to Make Creamy Peanut Butter Buttercream

1. In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy for 4 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low, add vanilla, salt and gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Mix until well combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
3. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles. Place 1/4 of the buttercream into a prepared piping bag with a #844 star tip.

How to Assemble this Cake

1. Layer one peanut butter cake, cut side up onto cake board. Add a thin layer of peanut buttercream over the cake and pipe a circle around the edges of the cake.
2. Add 1/4 cup of strawberry jam filling inside the circle of buttercream.
3. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat and freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Add a thicker layer of buttercream and smooth the sides out using a cake scraper.
5. While turning the cake, press and move your offset spatula from the bottom to the top holding the offset spatula perpendicular to the cake, continue turning and make lines on top for a rustic look.
6. Finally, pipe swirls on top, add chopped peanuts, and halved strawberries.

You May Also Enjoy:

• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)
• Cake Decorating Tool Kit (24-piece kit with free shipping)

Going back to school will be so much tastier with this Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake. This cake certainly satisfies all those PB&J cravings!

Happy Baking!

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there!

Watch The How-to Video Below:

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