Peanut Brittle Coffee Cake

I have had this recipe in my pinterest folder since David Lebovitz posted it in 2019.

A cold rainy day was the time to try it.

It's a caramelized peanut cake, so if you love peanut brittle (ME!), then bake this cake.

David and I both had some issues with the cake, but if you read the recipe thru, you will be fine, it's fairly simple.

My main issue was that I baked it in an 8" springform pan, instead of a 9".

Size matters!   My cake was not cooking in the middle, and burning on top.....so I covered it with foil and baked it an extra few minutes.   

All good.  In fact, I liked the look of the higher, fatter cake in the end, and the cake part stayed nice and moist.

The next day, the brittle firmed up and it was a totally different cake, still wonderful, and I could eat this for days.

What kind of peanuts to use?

I used my everyday jar of Planter's dry roasted peanuts, and they were perfect in this cake, a little salty and sweet from the caramel.

Here is the recipe from David Lebovitz's site and Joys of Baking:

Caramelized Peanut Coffee Cake (make it!!!):

For the peanut topping

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups roasted, salted peanuts

For the cake

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature

It's a fairly easy process........just use a 9" springform pan (unlike me, who used an 8" by mistake and had to adjust cooking temps, etc.).

I sprayed my 9" springform with PAM and lined the bottom with a round of parchment paper (I had no problem unmolding the cake, like David did......mine realeased easily, with no sticking at all).

Preheat oven to 350F.

For the peanut caramel topping:

In a heavy small saucepan (I love all-clad), heat the cream, honey, sugar and butter on a low, but steady boil for 3 minutes).

Fold in the peanuts, and turn off the heat.

Keep stirring while you make your batter, so it doesn't fully harden.

Batter:   Using a hand mixer is easiest, but I never use mine, I use my muscles.

Cream the butter with the sugar, eggs and vanilla, then slowly mix in the dry ingredients, a bit at a time, until incorporated.   

Add in the milk at the end and mix.    It should take about 3 minutes to mix on the hand mixer.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and top with the peanut caramel, spreading it not quite to the edge, but evenly on the cake.

Bake 45-55 minutes (my oven runs hot, so 45 minutes is fine).....if the peanuts are burning the last few minutes, you can cover with foil.

Let the cake rest in the pan 5-10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and unmold.

We LOVED this cake warm with vanilla ice-cream, and the next 2 days when the topping hardened and became peanut brittle like!!!

This is going in the favorites file.

So good.

xo