Snickers-Inspired Raw Cake
Words are simply not enough to describe the rich flavors of this week's sweet treat. It is a healthy cake that will satisfy your sweet tooth. For all the peanut butter lovers here, this dessert is for you.
Inspired by Snickers!
The cake is inspired by the famous Snickers bars. Snickers contain generous amounts of caramel, peanut butter, peanuts, and chocolate. An irresistible combination of flavors that is adored all around the world. Like many of you, I have enjoyed quite a few Snickers bars in my childhood. How that I do not consume white sugar, I find them extremely sweet. Despite that, I still believe peanut butter and caramel are a match made in heaven.
If you have checked the packaging, you may have noticed that Snickers contain a great amount of added sugar. As I tend to not use sugar in my baking if it is not necessary, I made a slightly healthier version of Snickers by replacing sugar with dates. Not only are dates a naturally sweet replacement of sugar, but they also contribute to the caramel flavor of the dessert.
This week's cake consists of a chewy base, an extremely soft and creamy peanut butter filling, and a crunchy chocolate cover. For the chocolate layer, I used 80% dark chocolate for two reasons. First, the cacao bitterness balances the sweetness of the filling. And second, that way the amount of sugar used in the dessert is minimized.
Peanut butter!
In this recipe, I used homemade peanut butter. I make peanut butter at home on a regular basis and I love its taste. I also appreciate the advantage of being in control of what you add to the peanut butter.
There are many recipes for preparing homemade peanut butter. I personally prepare it as follows. First, I take raw unsalted peanuts and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Then, I add them to a food processor or a powerful blender and I process them until obtaining a smooth and silky butter. This procedure usually takes me about 10 minutes. Yet, the preparation time strongly depends on how powerful your food processor is. I find that peanuts are one of the easiest nuts to turn into butter. Do not hesitate to try it out if you have the proper equipment.
If preparing homemade peanut butter is not an option for you, store-bought variants will also work well in this recipe. When buying peanut butter, make sure that it is unsweetened and that it does not contain any added oils.
Plant-based and raw!
The cake is raw and truly easy to prepare. All you need is a food processor or a blender. All ingredients are plant-based and easy to find.
The filling of the cake contains coconut milk and it is essential that you use full-fat coconut milk from a can. The coconut milk will make the filling soft and creamy. And for those of you who do not like the coconut flavor, I have good news - you will not be able to taste the coconut at all because the peanut butter in combination with chocolate overpowers it.
Ingredients:
100 g peanut butter
15 Medjool dates*
200 ml coconut milk**
50 g dark chocolate***
60 g oats
a pinch of salt
Preparation:
Soak the dates in warm water for half an hour or until soft.
In a blender, add the dates (drained from the water), 75 g of the peanut butter, and the salt. Process until smooth and your peanut butter caramel is ready.
In a bowl, add 50 g of the peanut butter caramel and the oats. Mix well and then transfer to a cake tin. Press the mixture with your fingers to form the base. Refrigerate.
To the rest of the peanut butter caramel, add the coconut milk and process to obtain a silky smooth consistency.
Transfer the creamy filling to the cake tin by spreading it evenly over the base. Keep in the fridge until the filling sets.
Over a double-boiler, melt the chocolate with 25 g of peanut butter.
Once the filling is set, pour the melted chocolate mixture on top and refrigerate again.
Your peanut butter cake is ready to be enjoyed! Easy, fast, and delicious.
Do you like this recipe? Please share in the comments below!
Tips:
* You can use any dates of your choice but keep in mind that Medjool dates are usually bigger and softer than other sorts of dates. Therefore, if you use other sorts of dates, you may need to add more than 15.
** Make sure you scrape out the solid part of full-fat coconut milk in a can.
*** I used chocolate with 80% cacao solids.