Caramel Apple Peanut Butter Loaf Cake
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10
 
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 115g (or ½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 150g (or ¾ cup) dark brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 170g (or ⅔ cup) creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 160g (or 1¼ cup) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons buttermilk
  • 1 large (260g) apple, I used Jonagold
For the topping:
  • 100g (or ½ cup) granulated sugar
  • 45g (or 3 tablespoons) salted butter
  • 60ml (or ¼ cup) whipping cream
  • a handful of salted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
First, make the cake:
  1. Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting) and line a 1.8 liters loaf pan with baking parchment. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. This may take up to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Scrape own the sides of the bowl every now and then to make sure it all combines beautifully. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla and mix for about 2 minutes, or until the batter is smooth.
  2. In a another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients have absorbed the wet ingredients. The batter will be very thick at this point. Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth out the surface with a rubber spatula. Wash the apple, quarter and core it then cut the apple into thin slices. Arrange the slices down the middle of the pan, inserting the slices about ½-cm (¼-inch) into the batter. Bake the cake for 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. The edges of the cake will bake first, but the batter underneath the apples takes a little longer, so check there for doneness. Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before taking it out of the pan. Leave to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
While the cake is in the oven, make the caramel drizzle:
  1. Heat granulated sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn. Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added. Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2-3 minutes. Very slowly, drizzle in ½ cup of heavy cream. Since the heavy cream is colder than the caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and/or splatter when added. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils. Remove from heat and allow to cool down before using.
  2. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle generously with the caramel sauce (I used a fork for this) and sprinkle over the salted peanuts. Cut thick slices of cake and... enjoy!
Recipe by The Tough Cookie at https://thetoughcookie.com/2013/12/08/caramel-apple-peanut-butter-loaf-cake-for-sally-of-sallys-baking-addiction/