Recipe: Easy Peanut Butter Butterfly Cakes

I’ve been doing a lot of baking recently which can only mean one thing, I’m happy. I’m not sure why I’ve been blessed with the gift of temporary inner peace but I’m going with it and enjoying the cakey results. Yesterday on a whim I whipped up an experimental batch of Peanut Butter Cakes. They turned out to be pretty darn good, so I’m sharing the recipe. It’s really easy, if I can bake it then so can you.

Peanut butter cakes

Easy Peanut Butter Butterfly Cakes (makes approx 20)

Ingredients:
8oz Butter or margarine (I used stork)
8oz sugar
4 large eggs
2oz peanut hottie powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
6oz self raising flour

For the icing:
2 big scoops of Betty Crocker vanilla buttercream style icing
2 heaped dessert spoons of Chocolate Peanut butter hottie

Method:
1. Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and the stir in the eggs.
2. Carefully fold through the peanut hottie powder, baking soda and self raising flour until combined.
3. Dollop into cake cases, there should be enough to make about 20 buns.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 15 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool.
5. To make the icing (yes this is cheaty, but you can make your own buttercream if you want), beat the buttercream until soft and thoroughly mix in the chocolate peanut hottie powder, add a drop of hot water if it feels too stiff.
6. Carefully cut a circle out of the top of each of your cooled cakes, cut the circle in two, dollop a teaspoon of buttercream into the hole and top with the halves to make them look like butterfly wings.

Resist the temptation to eat them all in one go.

So there you have it, really, really easy peanut butter cakes, they’re something that would be great to bake with children, or just by yourself if you’re in your happy place like me.

Peanut Hottie – Making Peanut Butter Milkshakes

Peanut butter is one of those love/hate things. I’m firmly on the side of loving it. I love it on toast, in salad sandwiches and a more recent love, in milkshakes.

I was uber excited when I got wind of Peanut Hottie which is a peanut butter hot drink like hot chocolate but peanut butter instead. Sounds weird. Looks weird. Is incredible. I know this because the moment the postman delivered me a sample, I put the kettle on.

Peanut Hottie
It’s easy to make, just four teaspoons in a mug of hot water, a vigorous stir and you’re in peanut butter heaven (or hell depending on if you’re one of those weird hater people).

With the sample came a note inviting my imagination to go wild, use Peanut Hottie in any culinary way I saw fit and to blog the results. I thought long and hard about this, then realised I needed to play to my strengths. Add lashings of booze was my answer!

My friend Lou has a cafe where I spend quite a lot of time. It is a lovely cafe with a massive selection of teas, as well as brilliant cake. Amongst those in the know (taps nose with finger) they also make pretty darn special milkshakes. It was to Lou I turned with my mad ideas, he had the equipment and expertise. I had a tub of Peanut Hottie and a crazy milkshake dream.

First off we tried Peanut Hottie and Caramel, here’s what we did…
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
1 dessert spoon of caramel sauce
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

It was incredible. It was really peanutty with a slight undertone of caramel. It was sweet but not too sweet. Lou downed his in about 4 seconds and he was really impressed with the way the Peanut Hottie powder blended. I loved it. It’s up there with the greats.

Next we tried the game changer, the Peanut Hottie and Bourbon
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 teaspoons of Peanut Hottie
2 shots of bourbon
350mls of milk

Whizz it all up in a blender, again add optional squirty cream and decorate with whatever you fancy, maybe chopped peanuts or a cookie.

This makes me happy just thinking about it. Yes it was boozy, but just the right level, it added a gentle background warmth and worked so incredibly, amazingly well with the peanut flavour, Lou was blown away. I loved it, I can’t ever imagine a peanut butter milkshake without bourbon in it now. It sounds wrong, but it is so right.

milkshake

I love Peanut Hottie and I’m pleased that it has fewer calories than the actual butter. However this is negated if you make a milkshake with ice cream, bourbon and caramel, but totally worth it!

What would you do with Peanut Hottie?

Disclaimer: I was sent a jar of Peanut Hottie to try free of charge with the proviso that I blog honestly about it. Peanut Hottie is available from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.