Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy: Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake. I've been wanting to make this cake ever since I got the cookbook because there is the most drool worthy picture of it in the book.


Chocolate cake topped with gooey caramel and peanuts. What's not to love? Well, the nuts actually. I don't like nuts but I will eat peanuts in things like Snickers bars, so I figured this would be similar and I would probably like it. So instead of omitting the nuts like I do with most recipes, I decided to go ahead and use the nuts.



I actually liked the nuts on this cake. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with several of the people to whom I served this cake. Everyone agreed that the cake itself was delicious, as was the gooey caramel, but several picked the nuts off of it. I guess you can't please everyone!


The biggest problem most TWD bakers seemed to have with this recipe was with the caramel. There's a very fine line between golden amber, delicious caramel and dark amber, bitter and burnt tasting caramel. For the most part, I think a lot of us found that it took much longer than the recommended 10 minutes for the sugar to caramelize - probably closer to 15 minutes. Just keep a very close eye on it as it starts to change color and if you aren't sure, remove it from the heat while you are trying to decide. Those few seconds while you are trying to make up your mind might be the critical juncture where the sugar changes from caramelized to burnt ;) (Dorie's tip to drop a bit on a white plate to check the color works well, too.)


My cake sank quite a bit in the center after I removed it from the oven. This resulted in a pool of caramel and nuts in the middle of the cake. The caramel peanut topping thickened and partially set as it cooled, but did not ever become completely set. So after cutting into the cake, all the topping just spilled into the space where the missing slice was taken. I wouldn't recommend cutting into this cake until you are ready serve because of this. It's not a huge problem, but it's kind of messy having to scoop up all the nuts and caramel on to the adjacent pieces when you're serving them.


One last thing - the recipe calls for lining your springform pan with parchment or wax paper. If you're sick of tracing circles and working so carefully to cut them out, make sure you check out my tips on a much easier way to accomplish this here.


Thanks Tammy, for choosing this scrumptious cake. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. Make sure you visit the TWD Blog Roll to see how everyone else enjoyed their gooey little treats!

*A few recipe notes:
- I used a 9" springform pan (instead of 8") and the cake was not too thin.
- I used salted butter and omitted the salt from the recipe.
- I used semisweet chocolate chips instead of coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate.
- I used honey roasted peanuts instead of salted peanuts. I also used an extra 1/4 cup since my cake was larger, 9" in diameter instead of 8".
- It's okay to top the cake with the caramel and nuts well in advance of serving. I topped my cake the night before and then brought it into work the next day. Wrapped, the cake will keep at room temperature for 1-2 days.
- The cake itself, without the topping, can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months.
- For more recipe tips, click here.