The Elvis Bundt

In the distant past this cake started off as Nigella Lawson’s Banana Loaf. Since I have been using this recipe I have fiddled with it a few times. Then, when my American friend sent me Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips, I decided that peanut butter would be a splendid addition. Of course, The King was famous for loving this combination; hence the title.

This recipe doesn’t make a large bundt. It fills a 2lb loaf tin, if that is your preference, or a 6 cup bundt pan (about 1.5 litres). It’s an every day cake that is easy to portion and slice up.

And if you can’t get the peanut butter chips, then get the same weight in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and chop them into chocolate chip sized pieces.

First, make the cake.

Ingredients

175g of Plain Flour

2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda

125g of Melted Butter

120g of Light Brown Sugar

2 Large Eggs

3 Ripe Bananas

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

150g of Peanut Butter Chips

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan) and coat the inside of your bundt tin in cake release or homemade goop (which is one part flour, one part flavourless oil, and one part shortening {I use Trex}).
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl and put to one side.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter and sugar together, then mix in the eggs.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract and the bananas, followed by the peanut butter chips.
5. Fold in the flour mixture in two batches and mix gently until all combined.
6. Pour into your tin, gently tapping it on the worktop, then bake for 35-40 minutes. (If you are baking in the loaf tin, it will take over an hour, but check after 50 minutes). The cake is ready when a skewer inserted comes out clean.
   
7. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Then gently shake the pan to make sure it is loose then turn out on to a cooling rack. Leave until completely cool.

Whilst the cake is cooling, you can make the Peanut Brittle.

Peanut Brittle

15g of Butter

100g of Caster Sugar

70g of Peanuts (I used salted, but unsalted is fine if that’s your preference)

1. Put the sugar and butter in a heavy bottomed pan and heat slowly on medium until the they have melted together to form a golden caramel.
2. As soon as there are no sugar granules left, add the peanuts and stir quickly to coat them all in caramel.
3. Pour the peanut and caramel mixture on to a silicone or paper lined tray and spread out.
4. Allow to cool and harden before breaking up and chopping to the desired consistency. I made mine quite fine, but you might prefer big chunks, or even to pulse it in a blender for a super fine powder.

Only when the cake is completely cool should you make the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

200g of Dark Chocolate

4 Tablespoons of Golden Syrup

100g of Butter

Place all ingredients in a bowl over simmering water and stir until melted and well blended. Allow it to cool for 10-20 minutes (until it is about 40C), stirring every few minutes, before pouring it over the cooled cake. 

[If you decide to make this as a loaf cake, then only make a quarter of the quantity of chocolate glaze and simply drizzle back and forth across the top of the cooled loaf.]

Cover the cake in the glaze by leaving the cake on the cooling rack, but place some greaseproof paper underneath to catch the excess chocolate glaze. After putting the glaze in a jug pour it carefully over the bundt cake, making sure that it is completely covered and fairly smooth. Once you have covered it, give the rack a couple of taps on the work top to ensure a smoother finish. Allow is to rest for 15 minutes.

Move the cake as carefully as you can (without disturbing the glaze) with a palette knife and spatula to the serving plate or stand. Simply grab small handfuls of the chopped peanut brittle and press it into the bottom edge of the cake. It should adhere to the still soft glaze. Brush or blow away any excess.

If you prefer, you could sprinkle it over the top, or use shards of brittle and decorate the top of the cake with them.

The Elvis Bundt isn’t a fine dining dessert. It’s a ‘take a slice and have it with your morning coffee’ kind of cake.

The cake is moist and heavily flavoured with banana. But when you eat it you get the occasional chunk of peanut butter, and it just works as a flavour combination so well. The chocolate glaze adds a touch of decadence and the peanut brittle adds another layer of flavour with the addition of a little but of crunch.

And if it takes your fancy, go crazy with the decoration. Add sprinkles and edible glitter and take Elvis to Las Vegas.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my colleagues did.