Peanut butter is always a favourite with its rich smoothness working well with many other flavours. Whenever I make anything with peanut butter, I always like to celebrate both its smooth and crunchy counterpart, adding texture into all my peanut butter bakes. Here I create a smooth chocolate topping for the cake, which complements the peanut butter flavour profile, and finish the cake with chopped Maltesers, adding crunch and maltiness.
The cake is light because the margarine (or butter if you prefer) is well creamed with the sugar, aerating the mixture. The addition of ground almonds also helps to keep the cake moist as well as boost the nutty flavour.
The quantity of cake batter means that this is simple enough to make with just a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare this cake and if you are speedy, it can be cooked in less than 30 minutes!
60g margarine
60g smooth peanut butter
100g granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
20g ground almonds
50g dark chocolate
A handful of Maltesers, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the base and sides and line the base of a 23cm sandwich tin.
Cream together the margarine and peanut butter with the sugar and the vanilla extract, pressing together the fats and sugar against the side of the bowl to combine. Once it has been mixed in, beat for a further minute until it turns a shade lighter.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one fully before adding the next egg.
Add in the dry ingredients and using the spatula, fold them through, being careful to avoid overworking the cake batter. If there are any lumps, they should be the ground almonds.
Pour the cake batter in the tin, smoothing out the cake batter. If you want a level flat cake, create a slight dip towards the centre of the tin so that when it rises, it will rise to the same level.
Bake the cake for around 13 to 16 minutes until the surface of the cake is evenly golden, starting to come away from the edges and it springs back when touched. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the cake and putting onto a cooling rack.
To make the chocolate topping, melt the chocolate, either in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water. Once it has melted, leave to cool and thicken slightly for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Use a table knife to spread over the chocolate in a thin smooth layer on top of the cake. Sprinkle over the chopped Malteser pieces before the chocolate sets. Allow to sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes so the chocolate sets. Serve with whipped cream or custard for a great dessert.
Andrew in the Kitchen 