Ackee Peanut Butter Crunch Cake

Chantal

7 years ago

Under the black frosting of the Ackee New Years cake was this Ackee Peanut Butter Crunch Cake, it’s a mouthful to say and more than a mouthful to describe in all its yumminess but I’ll do my best; peanut butter lovers rejoice! This one is for you.

Ever since I tested my first ackee bread recipe I knew ackee and peanut butter were gonna be a thing! So far there have been Ackee-Nut Popsicles and the Ackee Peanut Punch. When I say ackee and peanut butter are a match made in heaven, if you love peanut butter desserts don’t sleep on this one!

I was able to guilt the hubby into carrying a slice of this cake for his aunt – as usual he destroyed most of it, in his defense it actually isn’t that big a cake, notwithstanding, he should share more 😆. Her text read: “OMG…THIS CAKE IS AMAZING” so I knew she got it. Story went that she wasn’t home when he went to deliver it and so received special instructions as to where it should be hidden so that her hubby couldn’t get it 🤣 dessert trickery is an art form in this family.

But back to the cake…the easiest ackee cake ever recipe has quickly become my go to ackee cake recipe! I’ve taken that recipe, then sandwiched it with:

peanut butter buttercream

peanut butter and milk chocolate crispies:

and honey roasted peanuts:

The bursts of crunchy texture in the filling is a welcome surprise.

As I had a particular vision for the final appearance of this cake I baked it in a 9 inch square pan so that I could cut it into 4. As you can see it’s actually two small cakes stacked atop each other, but you could bake the cake in two 8 inch rounds and make one four layer cake.

For the outer frosting I made a chocolate buttercream with black cocoa then tinted it with a few drops of black food colour. Had I not been finishing the cake in this manner, I would have frosted it completely with the peanut butter buttercream and do a milk or even dark chocolate drizzle 👌🏾

It was fun to put together and I absolutely love how it turned out. All the recipes required are given separately below.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from this site, be sure to snap a pic and #amazingackee and @amazingackee so I can see your posts across social media.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time 😊

Easy Ackee Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 2 8 inch rounds

Ingredients

For the blender:

9 tbsps Vegetable oil*
3 tbsp Apple cider vinegar**
1 tbsp Good quality vanilla***
2 cups Parboiled ackee
1 cup Soymilk or Almond Milk

For the bowl:

2 cups Granulated white sugar
3 cups Cake flour****
1 1/2 tsps Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsps Salt I’ve been using kosher if you use sea salt measure it scantly

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 2 8 inch round cake pans
Sift bowl ingredients into a medium bowl.
Combine blender ingredients in blender and puree till smooth
Pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk till well combined but do not overmix
Pour into prepared pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or till done.
Check it at the 15 minute mark.
When done, remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely
Frost if desired, enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*I’ve tested it using both canola and coconut oil. If you use unrefined coconut oil, the oil will impart some flavour in the cake which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on what you’re going for

**I have not tested using plain vinegar, I prefer the flavour of apple cider vinegar for baking especially in such a simple cake

***I love the Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste! I’ve been using their extract instead of the bean paste and I’m not through the bottle as yet. They were always a bit pricey (so worth it though!) but more so now because of the vanilla bean shortage in Madagascar that has been driving up prices.

****I use Bob's Red Mill Super-fine Cake Flour

Tips:

1 I’ve tested this recipe using both cake and all-purpose flour, both work but I prefer the texture using the cake flour more.

2 If your milk and ackees are cold, warm them up a bit as the fats in the ackee will solidify and it will not blend smoothly

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Creamy swiss meringue peanut butter buttercream, make it smooth or crunchy by using your favorite peanut butter

Course Dessert

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 1 batch, enough to fill and frost an 8 inch round 4 layer cake

Author Chantal

Ingredients

180 g (about 5) Egg whites
320 g (1 2/3 cups) Granulated sugar, white
454 g (2 cups) Butter, unsalted, softened
Pinch of salt
180 g (3/4 cup) Smooth or chunky peanut butter

Instructions

Combine egg whites and sugar in a stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of simmering water (the mouth of the pot should be large enough to securely hold the bowl, alternately you can do this in the top of a double boiler)
Whisk constantly with a wire whip or spatula until the sugar completely dissolves (you can test this by rubbing some of the meringue between your fingers, you should not feel any sugar grains, it should be completely smooth)
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip at high speed until stiff peaks have formed and the bowl is cool to the touch. Add the salt.
Add the softened butter a bit by bit waiting till the previous addition is combined before continuing. (I like to switch over to the paddle attachment at this point simply because it’s easier to get the finished buttercream off the paddle than the whisk)
While mixing, the buttercream may appear to curdle but keep whipping and it will come back together into perfect beautiful buttercream, if it seems hopeless, place it briefly over some simmering water and whip it again.
Stir in peanut butter to finished buttercream, mix till smooth and well combined

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispies

The ackee crunch cake gets it's surprise texture from these sweet crispy bits

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 batch

Ingredients

30 g (about a cup) Rice Krispies
30 g (2 tbsps) Peanut Butter smooth or crunchy, whichever you prefer
30 g Milk chocolate (I used a quarter of a Lindt chocolate bar)

Instructions

Melt milk chocolate in microwave safe bowl in microwave or over a pot of simmering water.
Stir in peanut butter and mix till smooth.
Mix rice krispies with melted chocolate mixture then spread evenly on a parchment lined tray
Set aside in fridge.
When ready to use, break up roughly and sprinkle in between the layers of the cake