Cakes & Cupcakes
Salted Caramel Peanut Cake
A beautiful malted caramel sponge, with a salted caramel sauce, French buttercream and whipped cream filling, and a peanut crunch.
I know many people critique salted caramel for being so 2017, but for me, I absolutely love it! My best friend Pavit also loves it too.
I made a variant of this cake for his birthday last year, and to be honest, the sponge was rather dry, albeit the flavours being good. I got the chance to bake this cake again for another friend's birthday and spent a lot of time recipe testing different sponges. I finally nailed it – a light, soft and fluffy sponge, mostly thanks to the reverse creaming method of mixing.
There are a few components to this cake, but each adds something so wonderful. For me, the star of the show is actually the caramel French buttercream. Caramel cakes can end up being cloyingly sweet, but by using a French buttercream, it lends a velvety texture to the cake and helps to balance the sweetness perfectly.
Do not skip the peanuts (unless you have a nut allergy, of course). They add wonderful texture and saltiness to the recipe. Finally, that salted caramel sauce is super easy, but is the stuff that dreams are made of.
There are a few steps to this recipe, but just consume it in bite-size chunks and you will be rewarded by one of the most spectacular cakes ever!
The recipe
Salted Caramel Peanut Cake
adventureswithsugar.com/salted-caramel-peanut-cake/
Method
Method: caramel sponge cake
- Preheat the oven and prepare the tins: Preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius. Grease and line three 16cm tins with baking paper.
- Combine the dry ingredients: Place the butter, oil, muscovado sugar, golden syrup, self-raising flour, malted milk powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.
- Whisk the wet ingredients: In a separate jug, add in the eggs, milk and vanilla essence. Whisk by hand for about 30 seconds.
- Add half the wet ingredients: Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix for about 45 seconds.
- Add the rest of the wet ingredients: Then add in the remaining wet ingredients and mix on medium speed until the batter comes together and becomes voluminous, about 1 minute more. Do not worry if the batter looks slightly curdled.
- Divide and bake: Divide equally between the three pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Method: salted caramel sauce
- Add the sugar to the pot: Place the sugar in a large pot so that the sugar just covers the base of the pot (If the sugar feels too much, I suggest making the caramel in two batches).
- Caramelise the sugar: Heat the sugar until it just turns a deep amber colour. You want it to take on some flavour, so do not let it be too light.
- Add the butter: Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
- Add the cream: Then slowly pour in the cream, constantly whisking all the time.
- Return to the heat: Return to the stove for just 20 more seconds and then remove.
- Add the salt: Crush the flaked salt and add it to the caramel sauce.
- Let cool: Set aside to cool.
Method: whipped cream filling
- Whip the cream: Whip the cream to soft peaks.
- Add the caramel: Then add in the caramel sauce and whip until stiff peaks form.
Method: caramel French buttercream
- Make the syrup: Combine sugar and water in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat while stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Beat the egg yolks: In the meanwhile, put the egg yolks in a stand-mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat until thick and foamy.
- Pour in the syrup: When the sugar syrup reaches 116˚ Celsius, remove it from the heat. Slowly stream it into the egg yolks, by pouring it down the side of your mixer.
- Mix until cool: Continue mixing until the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch and the yolk mixture has cooled to room temperature.
- Add the butter and vanilla: Add in butter one cube at a time allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next. Add vanilla. Continue mixing until buttercream is smooth and creamy. (About 5 – 6 minutes).
- Add the caramel: Add in the dulce de leche or Caramel Treat and continue to mix until smooth and creamy.
Method: assembly
- Secure the first layer: Begin by sticking one of your cakes to your cake plate using some buttercream.
- Spread with caramel: Spread about three tablespoons of salted caramel sauce on the sponge.
- Pipe a dam: Using a large round nozzle, pipe a ring of buttercream just on the inner rim of the sponge to create a dam, this prevents the cream from oozing out.
- Fill: Fill the inside of the dam with half of the whipped cream, sprinkle with some peanuts and drizzle some caramel sauce over.
- Add the next layer: Then place the next layer of sponge on top.
- Repeat: Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 on the second layer as well.
- Add the top layer: Place the final cake layer on the top.
- Crumb coat: Add a thin coat of icing, a crumb coat, to the outside of the cake.
- Chill: Place in the fridge for 45 minutes.
- Final coat: Give the cake a final coat with the caramel French buttercream.
- Fill a piping bag with caramel: Place the remaining salted caramel sauce in a piping bag. You may have to microwave the sauce for five seconds to soften it.
- Pipe the drip: Pipe a drip around the sides of the cake, and fill the centre with more of the sauce, spreading it around with a palette knife.
- Pipe the swirls: Pipe little swirls on the top of the cake, with a star nozzle.
- Finish with peanuts: Finish off with the salted peanuts.
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