Spicy Peanut Cake (Vegan)

This spicy peanut cake tastes just like reeces pieces but for grown up. It has the rich flavour of peanut butter, the heat from pepper, and warmth from the spices. This recipe is vegan-friendly, egg-free, dairy-free and tastes just like any regular cake you can make.

My current food inspirations have been all about taking familiar flavours and snacks I had growing up in Ghana and turning them into treats that everyone knows — whether that means adding fonio or teff to chocolate chip cookies, or tiger nut pudding into coffee cake. The next on the list is to turn adaakwa into a cake, which also means accidentally making the grown-up version of reeces pieces in a completely different way. This recipe will have your taste buds singing and your tongue licking the plate after all the cake is gone.

What is Adaakwa?

Adaakwa, also known as dzowoe, is a spicy peanut ball sold as snack across Ghana. Depending on where you are, you will get different names. Traditionally, the balls are made with peanut butter, spices (chili pepper, ginger, cloves), and roasted corn meal (the same corn meal used for aprapransa). I also know some people use tom brown flour, which is a nut and legume flour porridge, which contains roasted flour, sorghum, and soybeans. This I will say is like the West African energy bite. They are incredibly filling and packed with flavour and healthy fats.

What you will need

• Plant-Based Milk: You can use any plant-based milk of your choice. I prefer soy milk because of its high-fat content and protein composition, which makes it easier to make vegan buttermilk.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Helps to curdle the milk
• Cake Flour: Cake flour is lighter flour. It’s basically all-purpose flour with some cornstarch
• Spices and Salt: The seasoning here, which is a mix of cayenne pepper, calabash nutmeg, cloves, and ginger adds a kick with a depth of flavor
  • Peanut Butter: You will want to use natural 100% peanuts without any sugar or oil
• Vegetable Oil: This adds added fat and moisture to the cake.
• Baking Powder: Acts as a leavening agent
• Apple Sauce: Egg Substitute
• Sugar (Granulated and Powder)
• Cacao Powder
• Chocolate: Any vegan-friendly chocolate bar works well here.

How to make the cake

1. Make your buttermilk
2. Mix your dry ingredients
3. Mix the rest of your wet ingredients
4. Combine your ingredients
5. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes
6. While the cake is cooling, make your frosting
7. Assemble and enjoy

FAQ + Substitution

• Can I make this cake peanut free? You can use any nut or seed butter of choice; however, it will no longer be a peanut cake
• Can I make this cake without the pepper? Yes of course!
• Can I substitute the calabash nutmeg? You are more than welcome to. Contrary to its name, substituting with regular cloves will not work as the flavor profile is quite different. You can just remove it from the recipe.
• Can I use another egg substitute? Yes, you can! A flax egg can work great here! Apple sauce tends to be an easy egg substitute that is more allergy friendly.

Make sure to check out my other African-inspired baked goods

• Double Chocolate Teff Cookie
• Fonio Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Tigernut Coffee Cake

Print Recipe

Spicy Peanut Cake with Chocolate Frosting

This vegan-friendly peanut cake has all the flavour notes of Reece's pieces but with more flavour and deliciousness.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Fusion, Ghanaian

Keyword: cake, chocolate cake, peanut butter

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

Cake Batter

• 1 1/3 cup of soy milk
• 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 100 g of neutral vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter make sure it is mixed well with the oil and has a pancake batter consistency
• 375 g of cake flour
• 200 g sugar
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of ginger powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp of calabash nutmeg
• 1/3 tsp ground cloves

Frosting

• 50 g vegan butter at room temperature
• 70 g powdered sugar
• 10 g cacao powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Extra Decoration

• vegan friendly dark chocolate

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Mix the apple cider and soy milk together and let it sit for 10 minutes to coagulate
• As the milk is coagulating, mix your dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices)
• After the 10 minutes are up, mix in the rest of your wet ingredients into the milk (oil, apple sauce, vanilla essence, peanut butter)
• Combine the wet and the dry ingredients
• Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry
• Let the cake cool down
• As the cake is cooling down, start to whip the butter till it is light and fluffy
• Slowly sift in the powdered sugar, cacao powder and clove spice
• Spread an even layer on the cake
• For extra decoration, add some dark chocolate shavings on the cake.