Sunday, March 18, 2012

Caramel-peanut-topped brownie cake




I was doubting whether I should bake this weekend because I am on a diet and I am seeing progress plus it just seemed that lately I kept sabotaging myself. I have been very good and stayed off sweet for 14 days, that is huge for someone that bakes twice a week in my pastry class where the main ingredients are chantilly, pastry cream, melted chocolate and this is without counting the weekends!
Despite all this, I decided to take a day off from my diet. I kept with my workout schedule and today I am back on track ! sometimes you just got to indulge, right? Besides, if you had seen the picture of this cake, you just had to try it!!!!

Going back to this recipe, some months ago, I bought Dorie Greenspan book " Baking from my home to yours". There are zillion recipes, but there are more than a couple that have caught my eye. This one specially, I had never seen around a cake like this. The picture of this cake is so tempting, imagine a moist and rich brownie cover with peanuts an avalanche de caramel dripping out of them... enough to be mouthwatering

The recipe is quite easy to follow. I was so happy I got almost all ingredients, just missing the salted peanuts which hubby was so eager and helpful to go get some after seeing the picture. I'm telling you, the picture is...mmm yum!!!

Ingredients:
For the brownie cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the topping:
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1½ tbsp. light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup salted peanuts

Making the cake
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.  Butter an 8-inch springform pan, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper.  Place the springform pan on a baking sheet.
To make the cake, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; whisk together and set aside.  Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are just melted – do not let them get so hot that the butter separates.  Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until well blended.  Whisk in the corn syrup, followed by the vanilla.  Add in the melted butter and chocolate mixture, and whisk until combined.  Gently whisk in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are just incorporated.  The batter should be thick, smooth and shiny.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and jiggle the pan a bit to even out the batter.
Bake the cake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool he cake for 15 minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the pan and remove the sides of the pan. Cool the cake to room temperature.

Making the topping
Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir just to combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring , until the caramel turns deep amber, 5-10 minutes.
Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps. Stir in the peanuts, and pour the caramel and peanuts into a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup or heat-proof bowl.
Spoon the peanuts on top of the cake. Then spoon the caramel on top of those. You’ll have a layer about ¼-inch high. Allow the topping to set to room temperature-about 20 minutes before serving.
To serve, run a blunt knife between the caramel and the pan and simply remove the sides of the springform. If this isn’t the case, hit the sides with some hot air from a hairdryer or wrap the sides in a towel moistened with hot water.

Serve either with whipped cream (chantilly) or ice cream!!!
Deliciousssssss!!! worth braking my diet for one day!
 



No comments:

Post a Comment