A self-saucing peanut butter pudding: cake on top, warm peanut butter sauce underneath, and the sauce makes itself while it cooks.
Two and a half hours in a slow cooker, of which fifteen minutes is work, served warm by the spoonful.
Why This Recipe Works
- Peanut butter appears in both halves — half a cup in the cake and a quarter cup in the sauce — so the two layers taste of the same thing at different intensities rather than of two different desserts.
- The hot sugar solution is denser than the batter, so it sinks. As the cake sets it rises through and above the liquid, which is why a sauce ends up beneath something that was never layered.
- Only two-thirds of a cup of sugar in the cake is modest, because the sauce carries half a cup of brown sugar of its own. The two halves are balanced against each other rather than each being sweet on its own terms.
- Baking to edges-set-and-centre-slightly-jiggly rather than to a clean toothpick is right for a pudding cake — the centre continues setting during the ten-to-fifteen-minute rest.
Batter Below, Sauce Above
Two mixtures go into the crock in sequence and swap places while it cooks. Every stage is arranged around keeping them separate long enough for that to happen.
Stage 1 of 4
Mix, and stop early
Steps 1–4 of 9
Dry whisked, wet whisked, combined just until they come together. Do not overmix — in a batter that has to hold its structure against a cup and a quarter of boiling liquid, that matters more than usual.
- Prepare the cookerLightly coat a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray, and line the bottom with a parchment sling if you want easy lifting.
- Whisk the dry ingredientsWhisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar in a bowl.
- Whisk the wet ingredientsIn a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, vanilla, peanut butter and melted butter until smooth.
- CombineAdd the wet to the dry and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips or peanuts if using. Do not overmix.
Stage 2 of 4
Spread evenly
Steps 5–5 of 9
Evenly is the operative word. A batter thicker at one end lets the sauce break through where it is thin, and you get a wet patch rather than a layer.
- Spread the batterSpread it evenly in the slow cooker.
Stage 3 of 4
Pour the hot sauce, do not stir
Steps 6–6 of 9
Brown sugar and warmed peanut butter whisked into boiling water until dissolved, then poured gently over. The instruction not to stir is the recipe — the dense sugar solution has to sink on its own.
- Make and pour the sauceIn a heatproof measure, whisk the brown sugar and warmed peanut butter with 1 1/4 cups of boiling water until dissolved. Gently pour it over the batter — do not stir.
Stage 4 of 4
Towel, lid, and about two hours
Steps 7–9 of 9
A clean towel under the lid catches condensation that would otherwise drip onto the cake surface. High for 1 hour 45 to 2 hours 15, until the edges are set and the centre is just slightly jiggly, then 10 to 15 minutes off the heat for the sauce to thicken.
- Cover and cookPlace a clean kitchen towel under the lid to catch condensation, if that is safe for your model. Cook on High for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, until the edges are set and the centre is just slightly jiggly.
- RestTurn off the heat and let it stand, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- ServeScoop warm cake into bowls, spooning peanut butter sauce over the top, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Ingredient Notes
- Creamy peanut butter, in two places
- Half a cup in the batter and a quarter cup warmed for the sauce. Creamy rather than crunchy — the sauce needs it to dissolve.
- Boiling water
- A cup and a quarter, and it must be genuinely boiling. It has to dissolve half a cup of brown sugar and a quarter cup of peanut butter, and warm water will not.
- Milk
- Two-thirds of a cup, dairy or unsweetened almond. The almond milk option is the only dairy-free lever here, since there is also butter in the batter.
- Chocolate chips or chopped peanuts
- Half a cup, optional, folded into the batter. Chips melt into the cake; peanuts add crunch against a very soft dessert.
How to Make It
Prepare the cooker
Lightly coat a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray, and line the bottom with a parchment sling if you want easy lifting.
Whisk the dry ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar in a bowl.
Whisk the wet ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, vanilla, peanut butter and melted butter until smooth.
Combine
Add the wet to the dry and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips or peanuts if using. Do not overmix.
Spread the batter
Spread it evenly in the slow cooker.
Make and pour the sauce
In a heatproof measure, whisk the brown sugar and warmed peanut butter with 1 1/4 cups of boiling water until dissolved. Gently pour it over the batter — do not stir.
Cover and cook
Place a clean kitchen towel under the lid to catch condensation, if that is safe for your model. Cook on High for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, until the edges are set and the centre is just slightly jiggly.
Rest
Turn off the heat and let it stand, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes to thicken the sauce.
Serve
Scoop warm cake into bowls, spooning peanut butter sauce over the top, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Success Tips
- Do not stir after the sauce goes on. That is the whole mechanism.
- Warm the sauce peanut butter so it dissolves rather than lumping.
- Use the towel under the lid, and keep it clear of the batter.
- Let it rest the full 10 to 15 minutes — the sauce is thin until it does.
Serving Ideas
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and a spoonful of the sauce from the bottom over each portion. Ice cream against a warm peanut butter pudding is the better of the two.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Refrigerate covered up to 4 days. The sauce firms in the fridge and loosens again when warmed.
Freeze
Possible up to 2 months. The cake survives freezing better than the sauce, which can go slightly grainy.
Reheat
A short burst in the microwave per portion. It is considerably better warm than at room temperature, and the sauce needs heat to be a sauce at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I stir it?
You get one heavy, wet cake instead of a cake with sauce beneath it. The separation relies on a dense sugar solution sinking through a thick batter while the heat sets the cake above it, and stirring destroys that difference in density before cooking can act on it.
Can I use natural peanut butter?
It works but behaves differently — natural peanut butter separates and is looser, which makes the batter wetter and the sauce thinner. Stir it thoroughly first, and expect the cake to want the longer end of the cooking range.
Mine had no sauce at the bottom.
Either it was overcooked, or the sauce was stirred in. Two hours fifteen is the upper end and many cookers get there sooner, with no visual warning beyond the jiggle in the centre. Check from an hour forty-five and take it off as soon as the edges are set.
