Peanut cake with maple syrup

This is not a honey cake at all, as it might seem at first glance. This cake contains thin biscuit layers with maple syrup and nut butter, viscous caramel, crispy pecans and fluffy custard with the addition of some maple syrup. Taste this amazing autumn flavor!

The calculation is for a 18 cm (7 inch) mold.

For the biscuit layers:

• Brown sugar – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Butter 82.5% - 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Maple syrup – 100 g | 3.55 oz
• Glucose syrup – 50 g | 1.75 oz
• Nut butter – 100 g | 3.55 oz
• Eggs – 2 pieces | 2.00 items
• Baking soda – 6 g | 0.20 oz
• Flour – 400 g | 14.10 oz

Use only natural maple syrup (containing 100% maple syrup) without artificial flavors. You can take any nut butter at your discretion (we have the peanut one).

Heat the sugar, the butter, the peanut butter, the maple and the glucose syrups until warm over a low heat, stirring with a whisk, until the butter melts. Add the eggs and the baking soda; stir and bring the mass to a hot state over a medium heat (don’t boil!). The mass will start increasing in size and slightly foam. Remove it from the heat, and cool slightly; add the sifted flour, and stir with a spoon or spatula. The dough will turn out sticky. Cover it with foil in contact, and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Divide the dough into 70 g (2.45 oz) balls. Roll each ball thinly on the parchment or a teflon rug, sprinkling them lightly with flour, so that they can be cut to an 18 cm (7 inch) circles later. You will have approximately 14 thin cake layers. Bake each cake for 5 minutes at 170-180C (338 to 356F). Trim the cake layers while they are still hot. Cut the edges later, and use them for sprinkling.

For the caramel:

• Sugar – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Glucose syrup – 20 g | 0.70 oz
• Water – 40 g | 1.40 oz
• Butter 82.5% - 50 g | 1.75 oz
• Cream 33% - 100 g | 3.55 oz

Heat the cream until very hot, but don’t boil.

Combine the sugar, water and the glucose syrup in a saucepan with a thick bottom; place the saucepan on a medium heat. Glucose prevents the sugar crystallization, so the caramel can be easily mixed during the cooking process without fear that the sugar will crystallize. Bring the mass to amber color, and add the butter; mix.

Reduce the heat, and add the hot cream. Be careful, as the mass will boil! Stir until smooth, and simmer for another couple of minutes. Place the finished caramel in the fridge for several hours.

For the filling:

• Pecan – 150 g | 5.30 oz

Fry the nuts, and chop them finely (but not into crumbs).

For the custard:

• Cream cheese – 250 g | 8.80 oz
• Mascarpone – 250 g | 8.80 oz
• Maple syrup – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Powdered sugar – 30 g | 1.05 oz
• Cream 33% - 500 g | 17.65 oz

The cream and the cheese should be cold. First, mix both cheeses with the maple syrup and the powdered sugar (with a silicone spatula or mixer on medium speed, preferably with a paddle attachment), so that no lumps remain. Add the cream, and whip the mass on a high speed until fluffy.

It’s more convenient to assemble the cake without a ring. Each biscuit layer takes about 80 g (2.80 oz) of the custard. Cover the biscuit layers with the custard, using a spatula, and spread a little caramel from a pastry bag (in a spiral) on top. Sprinkle them with nuts, and press with the next biscuit layer. Repeat the same order until the biscuits run out. Remove the excess custard from the sides, and wrap it with the acetate film. Put a split ring on, and place the cake in the fridge for at least 8 hours. You can add a small press on top.

Grind the baked biscuit edges into crumbs. Before sprinkling, cover the cake with a thin layer of the butter-based crème. Or you can also sprinkle the cake right away.

For the butter-based crème:

• Butter – 80 g | 2.80 oz
• Powdered sugar – 80 g | 2.80 oz
• Cream cheese – 240 g | 8.45 oz

Whip the butter until lightening, and add the powdered sugar; whip again. Add the cheese, and whip until smooth. Cover the cake with a thin layer, and sprinkle it with crumbs on top.