Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two round cake pans and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine them well.

In a small bowl, combine oil, eggs and cream. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir by hand or with a mixer until combined and there are no lumps. Add the chocolate chips and stir with a spatula to combine them.

Pour half of the batter into each of the cake pans. Smooth the tops the best as you can. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes. Once they have risen and are set in the middle, they are done. Don’t wait for the dry toothpick test or let them over-bake because they will get dry and crumbly very quickly.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before assembling. Once cool, you can trim the top if needed (to make a flat surface) and cut each cake in half to make four layers if you’d like.

To assemble the cake, trim the tops of the cakes if needed (to make a flat surface) and cut each cake in half to make four layers if you’d like. Spread the peanut butter frosting between the layers, stacking them as you go. Then spread the Salted Caramel Whipped Topping on the top and sides. Drizzle with extra caramel sauce and peanuts for garnish.

This cake is best at room temp, so don’t store it in the fridge. You can store it in a covered container at room temp until you put the Salted Caramel Whipped Topping on. Once the Salted Caramel Whipped Topping is on, it can be stored in the fridge, but let it come to room temp before serving or the cake will likely be dry & crumbly. The other option would be to wait to put the topping on until an hour or two before serving.

While the cakes are cooling you can make the Peanut Butter Frosting. Start by combining the butter and peanut butter on a medium speed with a hand mixer. On a low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar and cream alternating them to help prevent the powdered sugar from flying everywhere.

Once all of the ingredients are combined, turn the speed to high and whip until the frosting becomes smooth and lightens up a bit in color. Taste and adjust with more sugar if needed or more cream if the mixture is too stiff to spread easily.

Pour the heavy cream and almost all of the caramel sauce in a medium bowl. Reserve the extra caramel sauce for garnish.

Begin on a low speed with a hand mixer to combine the ingredients to prevent splashing, as the mixture begins to thicken, increase the speed and whip until it reaches soft peaks. Store covered in the fridge until ready to top the cake.