Coffee Peanut Butter Loaf
I was messing about in the kitchen, and this was the result. It’s just the right amount of salty and sweet and you can always adjust it to your own taste. I used honey in the cake and maple syrup in the icing/frosting (honey is a lot cheaper down here than maple syrup) but if you want it vegan, just use maple syrup in the cake as well.
Do not fear the use of red beans in the frosting/icing. It’s not as weird as you think. Many Asian desserts are based on red bean paste and it’s a really good alternative for butter in frosting/icing/filling if you can’t handle dairy.
As ever, remember that different honeys and maple syrups have different flavours, so taste as you go and get it to work for you. I did not add cinnamon to the cake, but I probably could have.
Loaf Ingredients
Wet
Half a cup of honey (or maple syrup).
Half a cup of oil.
One cup of coffee.
Two tablespoons of vanilla essence.
Dry
Two cups of self-raising flour
Frosting/Icing Ingredients
One 400 gm (14 ounce) tin of red beans (adzuki).
One tablespoon of instant coffee.
One tablespoon of coconut oil.
Half a cup of maple syrup
One tablespoon of vanilla essence
Two heaped tablespoons of peanut butter.
To make the loaf.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius (392.0 °F)
Line a loaf tin with parchment paper
Combine the wet ingredients.
Whisk in the self-rising flour.
Pop in the oven for 30 minutes of until an inserted knife comes out clean.
To make the frosting/icing.
Rince the beans thoroughly. This is important or your frosting/icing will have a horrible beanish taste, (yes, I did make up the word beanish and yes, I am proud of it. He he.)
Once your beans are properly washed, combine them with all the other icing/frosting ingredients EXCEPT the peanut butter.
Blend, wand or food process until smooth and as devoid of bean lumps as you can get it. Thicken with the peanut butter. I used crunchy peanut butter because the extra texture distracts from any beanish bits I might have missed, but do what makes you happy.
Assembling the loaf (yes, this is a bit more fancy than my usual cakes.)
Allow the loaf to cool.
Slice the loaf in half. Spoon half the icing/frosting mixture into the loaf. Put the second half of the loaf on top.
Spread the remaining icing/frosting on top.
Pop in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
I added some smashed up chocolate and roasted peanuts at the end and it was YUM!
