Orange Coconut Peanut Butter Cake

This recipe makes a beautiful golden and ultra-moist cake. It's delicious warm or cold, as a light breakfast or snack. I invented it some years back, to serve to a class, and to ship a bit to my Dad, who loves the tropics.

The peanut butter (used as part of the shortening) adds protein, plus niacin, magnesium, and manganese, and of course, complements the coconut nicely, while the walnuts are a great source of omega 3s. The coconut browns as it bakes, and the walnuts toast too.

Flour, Gluten

This recipe uses whole wheat or whole graham flour (whole graham is this cook's preference). And, for those who don't want to over-consume gluten, use up to half tapioca flour too, and perhaps replace a small amount of the flour with psyllium seed husk fiber (which tends to aid digestion and is beneficial for the gluten-intolerant).

The Tins

Thicker (industrial) loaf tins work best for this cake, since the oven temperature is at around 375 degrees fahrenheit; if you are using thinner tins, you'll need to adjust both the temperature and cooking time slightly. Make sure to line the tins.

The Recipe

The baking time (for an oven at 375 degrees f) is 35-40 minutes (the exact time depends on the pan size used; small cast iron pots lined with parchment work best at 375 degrees ; if using loaf pans, use a slightly lower baking temperature, somewhere between 350 and 360 degrees f). The recipe below makes two small round loaf-like cakes, baked in small (one quart) cast iron pots (handles removed, of course), plus enough extra for a muffin or two (cook any muffins at a hotter temperature, for less time); alternately it makes 2 9" by 5" or 8" by 4" loaves.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (use up to half whole wheat or whole graham flour, and half unbleached white flour or tapioca flour)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg (or, for nutmeg aficionados, up to one whole freshly grated nutmeg)
• 1/4 cup oil (sunflower oil; alternately use safflower or canola oil, or if you like a really peanuty flavor and do not care about the kind of fats in your oil, use peanut oil)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (for a total of 1/2 cup of oil and peanut butter together; do not use more than half peanut butter)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (alternately you can use up to half honey)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• grated zest of one orange (at least 3 tbsp grated orange zest)
• 2 oranges seeded, chopped, and juiced
• 6-to-8 ounces of plain yogurt (soy yogurt is fine)
• 1/2 cup dried flaked coconut, plus additional coconut for sprinkling on top of cake
• 3/4 cup fruit and nuts (a mix of chopped pitted dates, chopped raw walnuts, and perhaps sunflower seeds with shells removed)

Steps

1. Preheat the oven.
2. Oil the pans and line them with lightly oiled parchment or wax paper, then dust that lightly with cornmeal. If using iron pots and you wish to invert them, sprinkle some flaked coconut across the lining too.
3. Cream together peanut butter, oil, and sugar (or sugar-honey mix).
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, enough to incorporate air into the batter.
5. Stir in orange zest (if you are using freshly grated nutmeg stir that in here, too).
6. Sift together flour(s), baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
7. Now, stir in a third of the flour mix. Stir just enough to get all the flour moist.
8. Stir in the orange juice.
9. Stir another third of the flour mix into the batter.
10. Stir in the yogurt.
11. Stir in the last third of the flour mix and mix till incorporated.
12. Fold in the apple sauce, coconut, nuts, and dried fruit.
13. Pour into prepared pans, filling the pans about two-thirds full.
14. Sprinkle a bit of coconut over the top of the batter.
15. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

The cakes should slide easily from the lined tins. If you dusted the wax paper or parchment lining the bottom of the tins/iron pots with coconut, you can now invert the cakes onto the serving dishes. Serve warm or cold.

Some Tips

The easiest way to measure the flour out, if you are combining it with psyllium seed husk fiber, is to measure a couple of tablespoons of psyllium seed husk fiber into a cup, and then fill it with flour or tapioca flour.

To dress this cake up for the season, use up to 1/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries along with the nuts and dried fruit, or substitute dried cranberries for some of the dates.

Finally, If you want to try different pan sizes, you may wish to consult information on pan sizes, such as that at Ellen's Kitchen, or Joy of Baking.