TWD: Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of brownie, or any chocolate cake for that matter. I don't mind having a slice of flourless chocolate cake occasionally but it's just not something that I would crave for very often.

So I was not sure whether I should participate in TWD this week. But since hubby likes anything with chocolate, I thought I should let him decide whether he wants to have it as his afternoon snack.

Our conversation went like this, I asked, "Do you like brownie?". He was visibly taken aback, and I knew immediately that he took it as a trick question, just like the infamous one that every man dreads - do you think I look fat in this?

Well, he has every reason to have such a reaction. You see, I used to keep two pet rabbits in Singapore, one of them by the name of, coincidentally, Brownie. Even though he did play with them once in a while, he mentioned a few times he would prefer to have a dog rather than two rabbits that constantly chewed off every telephone line we replaced. As a protective "mother" of my rabbits, I expressed my displeasure and since then, he's been trying not to bad-mouth my bunnies, at least in front of me. :-P

Anyway, he certainly looked relief when I told him that I was referring to the cake, instead of Brownie the rabbit. ;-)

The next day after that conversation, I baked a batch of caramel-peanut-topped brownie cake for my hubby, by using a 6-mold mini bundt cake pan. It was a simple preparation process, with no major hiccups during the making of caramel as well. However, I detected a slight aftertaste in the cake which is usually caused by having excessive baking soda. I hope I don't sound as if I'm nitpicking, since the cake was given rave reviews from the comments I read in TWD, but I wonder if there's anyone out there who has notice the aftertaste? Do you think the amount of baking soda is too much for just 1 cup of flour?

Fortunately the aftertaste was not noticeable when eaten with the caramel. The saltiness of the peanuts pairs wonderfully with the caramel and I couldn't resist stealing a spoonful of the leftover peanuts-caramel every time I go to the kitchen.

If you're a chocolate cake lover and would like to give this recipe a try, check out Tammy's blog, she's the lovely lady who has chosen this recipe for the week.