Delicious layers of moist chocolate cake, Reese’s cheesecake, caramel and peanut butter make up this Copycat Cheesecake Factory Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake.
Welcome everyone to my week full of copycat recipes! I’ve been wanting to do a week of these delicious dishes for a long time now and I’m so excited to be sharing some with you! Today I brought you my version of the delicious Cheesecake Factory’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. Seriously yum!
I love rich flavor when it comes to desserts and this cake is just that. I mean it’s piled high with layers of delicious goodness! There is so many different flavor profiles in this bad boy that it all ties together so well and creates one heck of a decadent dessert.
Obviously you now that I love making cakes so you had to know that I was going to be making one here again soon. But this week isn’t just desserts, we’ve got a good mix of dessert, appetizer and entrée! I’m also going to be giving you a roundup of amazing copycat recipes from around the web so stay tuned for that.
If you aren’t already a lover of copycat recipes I hope I can sway you to like them. I mean I absolutely adore going to restaurants and indulging in some of my most favorite foods! But what I find even better is when I can recreate my favorites at home. I prefer to always eat in the comforts of my own home anyways, I hate feeling miserable like I’ve over eaten in public, so this way I can still fill miserable for over eating, but I’ll be home, lol!!
I’ve been doing copycat recipes for a while now and I just can’t quit. Here are some of my faves that I have done: Texas Roadhouse Rattlesnake Bites, Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Olive Garden Lemon Crumb Cake and Applebees Honey Pepper Chicken Mac and Cheese.
I wish I could say I have a favorite restaurant, but I’m such a foodie that I just can’t. There are so many that I enjoy and so many that I have yet to try! Unfortunately we live in a rural area so most of my foodie adventures happen when we travel and then I just go wild on food! Like literally try anything and everything I can. But I think that’s acceptable since I’m on vacation right? You’re allowed to indulge!
So getting back to this Copycat Cheesecake Factory Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. Moist fudge cake is layered with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake, then you have caramel (who doesn’t wanna add a little caramel) then a layer or peanut butter buttercream and then the cycle repeats itself. It’s then all covered in a chocolate ganache frosting and decorated with more peanut butter buttercream. Have I got your attention yet?
Not saying this thing is the easiest…I mean it can be. But it was really fun to make and seriously it was worth every second just to indulge in those delicious rich layers of chocolatey cheesecake goodness. So tighten your apron and have some fun!!
Copycat Cheesecake Factory Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cup sugar
- Heaping 3/4 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs room temp
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 Tbs vanilla extract
- 1 cup black coffee hot
CHEESECAKE
- 4 8oz packages full fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 12 fun sized Reese's Peanut Butter cups chopped
- 1 14oz can of dulce de leche
PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
GANACHE
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- To make chocolate cake, preheat oven to 350.
- Line bottoms of 2 9" round baking pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray, set aside.
- In large bowl mix together your flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
- Add your eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Fold in your hot coffee until a runny batter forms.
- Pour into your prepared baking pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pans for about 10 minutes before inverting on cooling racks.
- Once fully cool, wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate.
- To make your Cheesecake preheat your oven to 475.
- Fill large pan with about 1/2" of water and spray a 9" springform pan with non-stick cooking spray and wrap bottom in tinfoil.
- In large bowl with electric mixer mix your cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in your sugar, sour cream and vanilla until combined.
- Mix in 1 egg at a time, making sure to blend after each addition. Fold in your chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
- Pour into your prepared pan and place pan in water dish.
- Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake another 50-60 minutes or until cheesecake is just set.
- Remove from oven and let cool, once cool cover and refrigerate at least 4-6 hours if not overnight.
- Once cooled trim off about 1/2-1" of the top of the cheesecake to make level and then using a cake leveler or serrated knife split cake in half, chill until ready for use.
- Before you begin to construct your cake make your peanut butter butter cream by creaming together your butter and shortening, once fluffy add your peanut butter and vanilla.
- Adding one cup at a time add in your powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached, set aside.
- Add your dulce de leche to a bowl and add a few tsp of milk to thin out.
TO ASSEMBLE
- On a turntable or cake stand add 1 of your layers of chocolate cake and top with half of your dulce de leche.
- Top your dulce de leche with 1 layer of your cheesecake.
- Spread with about 1 cup of your peanut butter buttercream and top with 2nd layer of cake.
- Spread the rest of your dulce de leche and top with other layer of cheesecake.
- Trip outside of cake if need be to make even and spread a thin layer of your peanut butter buttercream to do a crumb coating and seal any gaps or spaces in the cake.
- Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to harden up slightly.
- Meanwhile to make your ganache add your chocolate chips to heat proof bowl and add your heavy cream to sauce pan and heat until it just starts to boil.
- Pour your cream over chocolate chips and cover for about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove cover and stir until chocolate melts into cream.
- Let sit until it starts to thicken slightly but not too thick.
- Remove cake from freeze and pour some of your ganache over the top and spread down the sides of your cake (ganache should slightly harden once it hits the cool cake).
- Repeat until top and sides of cake are covered.
- Place your 1/4 cup peanut butter in small bowl and heat until liquid and drizzle over top of your cake.
- Decorate top and bottom of cake with remaining buttercream.
Notes
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Linked up at: Meal Plan Monday
Toni
This is my brother in law’s favourite dessert and was so happy when I found yours.
This recipe is All that and a bag of chips!!! Amazing!
It’s a long process but easy to follow and so worth it.
Thank you!!!
Tornadough Alli
I agree, long process but absolutely worth it! I’m so happy that you liked the recipe and took time to rate and comment!
Niesha
I’ve made this and it’s amazing! I’ve used the chocolate cake mix and made cake and cupcakes. My issue is that it’s very crumbly and is very hard to icing and also sticks to the pan no matter what I do (shortening, flour, parchment paper etc) I’ve even reduced the coffee to 3/4 cups thinking that would help but it didn’t! Any ideas on why this is so crumbly and how I can fix it? I love this cake and always get compliments on it but it’s just such a pain to icing!
Steph
This cake is AMAZING!! How can it only have one rating?! My family and extended family LOVED it and asked me to make another! It’s a lot of work, but worth it in the end. My brother took a bite & literally said “Dude, this is better than something you’d get at the Cheesecake Factory”! My husband & I burst out laughing because he didn’t know it was a copycat recipe. That’s how flippin’ good this is!! Thank you, Alli!!!
Tornadough Alli
Oh Steph, you are so sweet, this is great! I know this is amazing, one of our favorites for sure! Lots of comments but no star reviews! So thank you so much, and I’m happy your brother absolutely enjoyed it!
Lanae Follett
I made this for a desert auction fundraiser at our church. They judged the deserts first and this cake took 2nd place. It sold for $600.00 and was a huge hit. I also used 2-9″ spring-form pans for the cheesecake. Watch that you don’t bake too long using this method.
Tornadough Alli
That is so awesome to hear, you’re making me crave this cake so badly right now!
Nina
Can i used a chocolate cake mix and add coffee to that for the cake portion of the recipe?
Tornadough Alli
You technically don’t need the coffee, the coffee enhances the chocolate flavor, but if you would like to use cake mix you should be able to, it might change the density of the cake but should still be good.
Steph
I can’t find dulce de leche anywhere, can I use regular Hershey’s caramel sauce?
Tornadough Alli
I wouldn’t recommend the caramel sauce as it is not thick enough. We usually find it in a squeeze bottle in the Mexican food aisle at Walmart if the helps.
Kristina
You can actually buy regular condensed milk and boil it to make dulce de leche, hope this helps
Sheika Laird
My family absolutely LOVED this! It’s been requested for the third year in a row for Thanksgiving!
I did want to ask a question about it though, I’m wanting to make it for my family for a get together we have. It’s a 10hpur Drive for us, do you think if I assembled it at home and transported it that it would be okay? I’m so worried that it won’t survive and I don’t know the rules on cheesecake. Should I maybe freeze it? Would that be okay to do?
Tornadough Alli
Yay I’m so happy you like this. Do my recommendation is you could freeze it but I have never frozen my cheesecakes or cakes. I would make sure to put it in a cake carrier and keep it in a cooler on ice so nothing spoils or melts.
Ana
Hi!!!! The cake looks delicious and amazing!!! I want to do it but where i live i cant find shortening, can i replace it with anything else?
Thanks for sharing the recipe Home you can help me!
Tornadough Alli
You can just swap it out with butter 🙂
Zoe Barker
How much cream cheese does this recipe use? The ingredient lists says 4 packages (8oz) – is the total amount 4X8oz (i.e. 900grams)? Thanks.
Tornadough Alli
Yes 4 (8 oz) packages!
Danyell
Made this for some coworkers. It turned out AMAZING!!! I used instant coffee for the coffee and the chocolate cake part turned out awesome. I used 2 spring form pans instead of just 1 so I wouldn’t have to cut it in half. That seemed almost easier.
Tips: 1) I don’t recall it mentioning lining the pans with parchment paper, it’s a huge help if you do. 2) I use a big roasting pan with water for the water bath. I placed it in the oven while it preheats. It sits on the rack directly below the cheesecake (I don’t like putting the cheesecake in the water). After it’s finished, I turn it off and let it sit in the oven for about 20-30 with the door closed. Then after, open it slightly to finish slowly cooling. That helps prevent cracks.
P.s. the assemble instructions are a little of, but I figured it out from the picture.
Alison Richman
Hi Alli! Thanks for this jaw dropping recipe!
From your instructions it sounds like you’re adding all the cheesecake to the center without chic cake in between. This differs from your pics however. Am I missing something? Thank you! Alison
brooke
Does this cake freeze well?
Tornadough Alli
Unfortunately I have never tried to freeze this so I’m unsure how it freezes. Sorry!
Krissy
Can you use something else besides coffee? Does it add a strong coffee flavor to the cake?
Tornadough Alli
Hi Krissy, coffee is actually used in a LOT of chocolate cake recipes, it doesn’t so much as add coffee flavor but it actually enhances the chocolate flavor!
Jessica Wilson
in the directions it says to have cake layer on top but the picture shows cheesecake as final layer.which one goes on top or does it matter?
Tornadough Alli
Im sorry Jessica it is the cheesecake layer 🙂
Amy
Hi! This cake looks AMAZING and I am so excited to try it out! In fact, I plan on making this cake this week for my father’s birthday, so I was just reading through everything to prepare. I noticed that there is 1/4 cup of peanut butter that is included in the cheesecake portion of the ingredients, but not instructions on what to do with it. Any advice on where that fits in? Thank you so much in advance!!! Amy
Tornadough Alli
Hey Amy! Thank you so much, we looooove this cake. I don’t know how that extra peanut butter got in there! But I removed it from the recipe, so there is no need for the peanut butter in the cheesecake itself. Just the PB cups 🙂 hope that helps.
Abby Perry
Im currently making this and i cant finddulce de leche can i substute regular herseys carmel in a jar? Thank you! im so excited
Jessica
Does the dolce de leche, go in the cheesecake or is it an ingredient for the peanut butter butttercream.
Tornadough Alli
Hi Jessica, per the directions the dulce de leche is actually on its own, you spread it over the top of each of the chocolate cake before you layer your cheesecake on. Hope that helps 🙂
Greg
It looks fantastic. I have to make this !
Tornadough Alli
Thanks Greg!! It’s addicting, rich but totally addicting.
Linda @thedutchbaker
Oh my gosh this looks incredible! 🙂 So deliciously chocolatey and peanut buttery! I love copycat recipes, I have a krispy kreme donut recipe I adore. I cannot wait to try this! Thank you for sharing xx
Crystal
This looks delicious! I definitely want to try it soon!