Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake

My first week of baking with Tuesdays with Dorie gave me the opportunity to make the scrumptious Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake. The recipe was chosen this week by Tammy and can be found on her site. Despite my earlier hesitations, I ended up making this recipe exactly to the letter and I have to say I was pleasently suprised.

I didn't have any of the problems that some of the other bakers had (needing to cook the cake longer, having sinking problems in the middle of the cake, it being dry instead of moist) and it turned out really well.

I used a 9 inch springform pan instead of an 8 inch pan because I thought that the batter might rise too much, but I was wrong. Due to the change, the cake ended up slightly larger, but thinner than it might have been otherwise. Though the cake and the caramel ended up being so rich that it almost worked out better that the cake was on the thin side.

The peanuts ended up being ok on the cake, and I almost enjoyed the crunch, though not the taste. I would definintly make this cake again, but I doubt I would redo the peanut topping.

I have to say that the thing that pleased me the most about this cake was the caramel that I made. Never before have I made caramel so perfectly.

I didn't burn it. I didn't undercook it. It wasn't too thin or too thick. It was caramally perfection.

Dorie states in the recipe that you will end up with more caramel than you need, which I was thrilled about. Once the caramal had cooled to be slightly under the temperature of lava (and yes, you can still burn a perfect little hole in your toe if it drips on you at this temperature), I proceeded to eat myself sick on my yummy creation.


I don't know if it was the addition of the corn syrup to the sugar and water, or maybe if it was just that I've finally gotten my caramel making technique down, but the caramal topping was creamy and perfect. Just the thing to pull the cake together.