#879 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

(by Shirley McNevich)

1 box Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix
1 - 3.5oz. box Jell-O vanilla INSTANT pudding/pie filling
1 cup cold milk
1/2 cup Jif peanut butter
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
2 squares Baker's semi--sweet baking chocolate (melted according to box directions)
1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (thawed)

Make the cake batter and bake it in two 9" round cake pans as directed on the cake box. Cool cakes 15-20 minutes, then remove from the cake pans and let them cool completely. In a bowl add pudding mix and cold milk--beat with a whisk until well blended. Add the peanut butter--beat with the whisk until blended. Refrigerate the pudding mixture until the cakes have completely cooled. When cakes have cooled, melt the Baker's chocolate according to box directions--add the whole roasted peanuts to the melted chocolate--stir. Cover a cookie sheet with Saran Wrap. Drop the chocolate covered peanut mixture by teaspoonsful on the Saran Wrap. Let the peanuts cool to room temperature, then refrigerate them for 15 minutes. Put one of the cake layers upside down on to a cake plate. Spread 1 cup of the refrigerated pudding mixture just on the top of the cake. Place second cake layer (top side up) on top of pudding layer. Add the Cool Whip to the remaining refrigerated pudding mixture--stir. Frost the top and sides of the cakes with the Cool Whip/pudding mixture. Remove the refrigerated peanut clusters from the Saran Wrap and arrange them on the top of the cake. Refrigerate.