I cant imagine why I have not done this before. This is a recipe that formed during a pretty gruesome meeting that required a hell of a lot of attention and far too much discussion. During one of the breaks, my colleague and I conversed about running away from it all, and wanting to live in a house made of chocolate. The chocolate conversation then went on to peanut butter. Clearly, a very productive day.
So, we decided that peanut butter and chocolate must definitely merge into one gorgeous cake, and the thought left us drooling for the remainder of the day.
This cake took two attempts to perfect – the first time turning a bit dry. I added some yogurt into this updated recipe, and a some more sugar as my peanut butter did not have any added sugars. This cake is pretty awesome and if you are looking for something rich, chocolatey, a bit gooey, and lovely peanut butter combined just does it for you, then this, my friend, is the cake for you.
I debated a lot on the type of ‘garnish’, and I realise a peanut butter buttercream frosting would have been nice and also a lot prettier, but I felt a simple drizzle of dark chocolate, sea salt and roasted peanuts for crunch was just the right amount of everything. The cake is pretty rich, so the balance works great.
The cooking time is not a lot – peanut butter tends to make your baked goods drier, I like to take out my cake at around 15 minutes, and let it cook in the tin while cooling. But that choice is entirely yours.
I strongly recommend using a good organic peanut butter, with no added salt or sugar. This cake is not intensely sweet, and if you feel like you need more sugar, either increase the sugar content upto ½ cup or leave as is, and smother the cake with a buttercream frosting.
The Recipe
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup yogurt, room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 150g dark chocolate, melted
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 70 g dark chocolate, melted
- sea salt
- roasted peanuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9” diameter cake tin.
- Whisk the oil, peanut butter and brown sugar until frothy.
- Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for a minute and then add the yogurt.
- Pour the melted chocolate and beat just until smooth and silky!
- Fold in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour, until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour into your cake tin and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top of the cake starts to crack slightly.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the tin for 17-18 minutes before plating.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the cake, and quickly sprinkle the sea salt and peanuts.
