An Easy, Satisfying Snacking Cake: Salty Caramel Peanut Butter Cake

My husband gave me a copy of Yossy Arefi's Snacking Cakes for my birthday. There are a lot of recipes in the book that I want to make, but the first one I tried was the "Salty Caramel Peanut Butter Cake."

 

This is a one-bowl cake that you can make by hand. You whisk brown sugar and eggs until pale; add smooth peanut butter; mix in buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and kosher salt; and incorporate flour, baking powder, and baking soda. I baked the cake in a 9-inch round pan, but you can also use an 8-inch square pan or even a loaf pan.

The frosting is a fudgy penuche. You make it by bringing butter, brown sugar, cream and water to a rolling boil; cooking the mixture for a few minutes and letting it cool briefly; and whisking in powdered sugar and kosher salt. You spread it on the top of the cake and sprinkle on some flaky salt before it sets. The icing set nicely and the frosted cake was easy to store and handle.

This was a great cake. It's pretty no frills, but it was moist and had a nice peanut butter flavor. The frosting is excellent and the salt kept the sweetness in check. The combination of the salted caramel frosting and peanut butter cake turned out to be delicious. This recipe gives you a great return on relatively little effort.

Recipe: "Salty Caramel Peanut Butter Cake" from Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi.