I think this Peanut Crusted Chocolate Cake is so good and am quite excited to share the recipe.
I was reading an article that mentioned Margot Henderson’s Turkish Coffee Cake and the sound of the cake was too good to resist and I thought the recipe was quite interesting and set about to bake it. I liked the idea of the flour being half white and half wholewheat and even more so was intrigued by the method of halving the flour and butter mixture, one half forming a crust and the other half getting sour cream, eggs and bicarb to form a batter that bakes on top of the slightly chewy crust.
My first attempt at the cake was not that great as I found the amount of bicarb just too much, leaving a soapy taste in the mouth. I then made it again, halved the bicarb and added some chopped peanuts to the crust part of the mixture. It came out much better and I was happy to share it on here.
Then one morning I decided I was going to turn it into a chocolate cake. Added cacao to the flour (reduced the bicarb a tad more) and added chopped roasted peanuts to the crust mix. Happy days as it turned out delicious and a bit different from a usual chocolate cake. And I do like the whole-wheat flour in the recipe as it gives the cake a more substantial “bite”.
Over and above changing the recipe into a chocolate cake, I reduced the sugar and added salt. I also used a used a 20 x 20 cm tin so it baked a bit longer than the original recipe.
Any chocolate frosting of your choice will be a great topping but you could slather it with a rich chocolate ganache or even some salted caramel. Or serve each square with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some fresh berries if in season.
I hope you enjoy this recipe for Peanut Crusted Chocolate Cake. If you’ve made the recipe share your dish with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred.

Peanut Crusted Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g wholemeal flour
- 100 g plain white flour
- 200 g soft brown sugar
- 50 g cacao
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 175 g butter cut into cubes
- 50 g peanuts chopped
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 250 ml sour cream
- 4 tbsp very strong espresso coffee
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Put the flours, sugar, cacao, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and mix together then rub in the cubed butter until you have an even crumble.
- Divide the mixture in half and add the peanuts to the one half
- Mix the peanuts into the mixture and press into a 20cm x 20cm cake tin
- Add the bicarb, soured cream, espresso coffee, eggs, vanilla to the other half of the flour mixture and mix well with a whisk
- Pour into the cake tin and spread evenly with a spatula
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 mins until firm, springy to touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin
- Top with a chocolate frosting, ganache or caramel topping of your choice or serve as is with vanilla ice cream
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A few more of my favourite chocolate recipes :
Gingernut Crusted Chocolate Brownies
Peanut Butter, Caramel, Chocolate Tart
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