Image Source: Tobias Cooks

It’s December and we know what December means, it means Christmas, holidays, fun and joy. It means lots of love, family and friends and gifts. But above all it means food. For a foodie like me, festivals are synonyms of food. Each festival has its own importance and its own set of food and Christmas means cake. While there are a whole lot of cakes like chocolate cake, vanilla cake, black forest, rum cake, there is always a room for experiments. So this festive season try something new instead of your regular old recipe. So here I am sharing a peanut butter cake recipe with you.

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups of whole grain flour

1 1/4 cups of milk

1/2 cup of palm sugar

1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter

3 eggs

1/4 of cup ghee

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Frosting

1/4 cup of packed palm sugar

1 cup of whipping cream

1/2 of cup creamy peanut butter

12 cups of chocolate frosting

1 cup of chopped peanuts

Method

Preheat the oven at 180-degree centigrade.

Generously grease a cake pan with ghee or butter

In large bowl, mix the whole grain flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl add milk, 1/2 cup peanut butter, the ghee and eggs with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

Now fold in the dry ingredients and mix them well.

Pour this batter into the cake tin.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let it Cool for 10 minutes.

Run a knife around sides of the pan to loosen the cake; remove from the pan to cooling rack. Let it cool completely.

In a saucepan, melt ghee over medium heat; stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling; boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

In chilled medium bowl, beat whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form; set aside.

In another medium bowl, beat 1/2 cup peanut butter and the brown sugar mixture on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add whipped cream to peanut butter mixture; beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Split the cake horizontally to make 2 layers. Fill in the layer with about 2/3 cup peanut butter mixture to within 1/2 inch of edge.

Frost side and top of cake with frosting. Sprinkle and press peanuts onto frosting on side of the cake. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Health Benefits

Whole Grain Flour: Whole grain flour is a rich source of dietary fibres, carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins, minerals, and antioxidants. Unlike refined flour, the rich nutrients and minerals are not stripped down from this flour. It is an important part of our daily food.

Milk: Milk is a low calorie food, which is a source of lactose. It is a good source of calcium, Vitamin A, and proteins. It also contains potassium.

Palm Sugar: It has low Glycemic Index. Palm sugar doesn’t shoot up the blood sugar level, it consumes the energy from the body to burn the carbs.

Natural Peanut butter: Rich in protein and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, etc, natural peanut butter is a healthy alternative to regular butter. If you use natural and organic peanut butter, it would only contain peanuts and no added oils, emulsifiers or sugar.

Ghee: Ghee is also useful for lactose intolerants because when ghee is made out of butter, it looses all the impurities and milk solids. Regular consumption of ghee keep the joints smooth and friction free. It helps to aid digestion and boosts weight loss. Ghee carries medicinal properties thus enhance the flavour and nutrients of herbs and spices, when used together. It also reduces blood cholesterol.

If you try this recipe do let me know how you and your family liked it and any other variation you made to this recipe.