By October and my twenty-first birthday is in three days. Twenty-one. I am going to turn twenty-one in Birmingham, in my apartment that I have made mine, with a cat who sits on the kitchen windowsill and roommates who have become something like friends and a research mentor who believes in my work and a Sunday table in Prattville that has not changed and will not change.
I have been thinking about the arc of the last three years. Eighteen, aging out of the system, moving into an apartment alone for the first time. Nineteen, promoted at the daycare, starting college. Twenty, transferring to UAB, moving to Birmingham. Twenty-one: second author on a conference paper, lead teacher at a UAB partner daycare, full-time student with a 3.8 GPA, a blog that people actually read.
I made my own birthday cake this year. I have never done that before, always waited for Gloria to make something. But I wanted to make it. Red velvet, which I have made several times now, with cream cheese frosting and pecans on top from the jar I still have from Gloria yard. I made it on Saturday and Priya and Diane ate slices at the kitchen table and sang happy birthday in what can only be described as enthusiastic rather than accurate, and Biscuit sat on the counter and observed the proceedings with regal indifference.
Sunday at Gloria and James was a second celebration. She made banana pudding and James said: twenty-one years old. He shook his head slowly. He said: when we met you, you were fourteen. I said: I know. He said: look at you now. I said: I know. He said: we are proud of you every day. Not just this day. Third time he has said that. I count the times he says it.
The red velvet was for Saturday — for Priya and Diane and Biscuit and the apartment that is mine. But this peanut butter cake is what I’ve been thinking about ever since, because it sits in that same place: the place where you decide you don’t have to wait for someone else to make something sweet for you. I’ve been baking more this year than any year before, and there’s something about a peanut butter cake — simple, a little unexpected, deeply satisfying — that feels like the right thing to carry into twenty-one.
Peanut Butter Cake
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat & prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Heat wet ingredients. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, butter, and peanut butter. Stir constantly until butter is melted and mixture is smooth and just beginning to boil. Remove from heat.
- Mix batter. Pour the hot peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until the batter is smooth.
- Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- Make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and peanut butter together over medium-low heat. Stir in the milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and pourable.
- Frost. Pour the warm frosting over the slightly cooled cake, spreading evenly to the edges. Allow frosting to set for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 75g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 310mg