Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

I immediately thought of Dad when I saw this yummy cake. Anything that involves peanuts and chocolate should be a winner! I surprised him at work with a picnic lunch followed by cake and ice cream fpr his birthday.

This is another great recipe from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Your's." Instead of a springform pan, I used a regular 8" cake pan. After removing and cooling the cake, I wrapped a double layer of aluminum foil around the edges of the cake to catch the carmel topping. This worked well but next time I will wait to pour the carmel sauce on until it is a bit cooled and thickened. I probably didn't carmelize the syrup quite enough. Really let it darken to a nice amber color before lowering the heat and adding the nuts.

This cake is like a brownie in that it begs for soft, vanilla ice cream to top it off. Coconut ice cream would be heavenly. The carmelized nuts give it a candy bar-like topping. Coconut would probably be great, although even richer, added to the topping. Delicious!!