Snickers Pie

Hooray! Another heavenly peanut butter dessert!

I'm feeling in a bit of a baking rut; I'm kind of sick of baking mass quantities of the same old things, kind of sick of getting up early to do it.

I take my job very seriously, and I'm used to receiving praise for it. I love watching customers approach the dessert case with wide eyes, clutching their friend's arm and gasping "look...just look at all that..." I love when they find out I'm the baker and they sigh "I just love your desserts!"

Buuut, recently I heard about some customer complaints, and I have no idea what could have gone wrong. It makes me feel extremely insecure. I'm going in to bake in the morning and I'm actually nervous. I'm an approval suck, it's true. It's funny how one bad comment can wipe out the memory of all the good ones. That's true about everything in life, I suppose.

Anyway, this weekend is the Holiday Market downtown (8th st and Reynolds) from 12-6 and it should be good. Santa will be there and live Christmas trees and FREE chik-fil-a sandwiches. I'll be there with loads of good bread and baked goods like sourdough, ciabatta, rosemary, black olive, mediterranean stuffed loaf, bleu cheese stuffed loaf, cinnamon rolls, brownies, oat fudge bars and more! If you're in the Augusta area, make sure to stop by.

Now, on to this luscious snickers pie, which is a winner guaranteed to improve any bad baking day. There's several steps but they're not hard and the result is phenomenal.

Snickers Pie, Adapted from Martha Steward

Oreo crust:

1 9-in springform pan.

about 2 cups finely ground oreos (a food processor does the job in a jiffy, but you can also crush the cookies in a heavy duty ziplock bag with a blunt object like a rolling pin)

3/4-1 stick melted butter

Caramel Layer:

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sour cream or 1/2 stick butter

1 cup roasted salted peanuts

Peanut Butter Mousse:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 t vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped into medium-stiff peaks

Chocolate Ganache Layer

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Make the Oreo Crust. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the ground Oreos with the butter and press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of the springform pan. I like to use the side of a measuring cup to do this. Use your fingers if necessary. Bake the crust for 10 minutes so its nice and crispy. Remove from oven and let cool.

2. Make the Caramel. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat it over medium-high heat on the stove. It will take about 10 minutes to turn amber, but watch it carefully, swirling the pan occasionally, because it can burn easily. Remove from heat once a dark amber color and carefully whisk in the 3/4 cup heavy cream. It will bubble and steam and be very hot, so watch your hands. If there are any caramel lumps, reheat the caramel until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream or butter. Transfer to a heat proof bowl and cool, about 45 minutes. Once the caramel is fairly cool, fold in the 1 cup of peanuts. Spread the mixture evenly in the bottom of the oreo crust. Refrigerate while you make the Peanut Butter Mousse.

3. Make the Peanut Butter Mousse. In a stand mixer or with a hand held mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the 1/2 cup powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the 1 1/4 cup Peanut Butter and the vanilla and beat until smooth.

Whip the 1 cup heavy cream in a clean bowl until medium-stiff peaks form, and then fold 1/3 the whipped cream into the Peanut Butter mixture to lighten it. Fold the rest of the whipped cream into the Peanut Butter in two additions.

4. Spread the Peanut Butter Mousse evenly on top of the caramel layer, taking care that the two don't mix. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Make the Chocolate Ganache. Pour the final 1 cup heavy cream into a microwave safe container and microwave for about 40 seconds, depending on your microwave. You can also heat it on the stop until bubbly around the edges. Dump the 8 oz chocolate into the hot cream (or pour the cream over the chocolate) and let sit for 1 minute to melt. Whisk until smooth. Pour the Chocolate Ganache over the peanut butter mousse and spread evenly.

Refrigerate a final 30-45 minutes and you're done! Slice and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I've been on SUCH a peanut butter dessert kick lately.

Ahahah, can you picture me swerving through traffic trying to get a picture of the peanut butter cookie ice cream sandwich in my hand? It wasn't easy, especially since I kept taking bites between shots...

Really, that ice cream sandwich was stupid good. I used Lebovitz's Peanut Butter Ice Cream recipe from The Perfect Scoop, which is incredibly easy. (No custard necessary because the PB keeps things soft and non-icy. And it uses half and half instead of heavy cream so its good for you...right?) And I used the double chocolate peanut butter Levain cookie recipe by Lisa at Parsley, Sage and Butter. I used all regular chocolate chips instead of PB ones. Find the cookie recipe here.

And here is the Peanut Butter Ice Cream Recipe:

Makes about 1 quart

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

3/4 cup plus 2 T sugar

2 2/3 cup half and half

Pinch of salt

1/4 t vanilla

Puree all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Chill in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

...yes, that's it! Go make it!

Oh, and here are a few other peanut butter desserts from The Fox Fix if you, like me, are obsessed with them as of late:

Chocolate Cake with PB frosting

Peanut Butter Torte

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

The King Cake

Lets just say I feel like this when I eat Peanut Butter desserts.

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (And Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze)

A few weeks ago, peanut butter re-entered my life in full force. It's always had it's place, you know, in peanut butter and banana sandwiches and peanut butter banana cakes, but that peanut butter torte bumped it up several notches in my dessert roster. And this cake? It sealed the deal.

(First of all, let me say if you're going to put sour cream in a cake, you've got my attention.)

The chocolate sour cream cake in this recipe is moist and tender, and just about melts into the peanut butter frosting inside your mouth. It's like the cake and frosting are one; meant to live in symbiotic cake bliss...

And (as if you needed more convincing) this cake doesn't even require a mixer!

Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting adapted from Sky High (buy this cook book.)

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour

2 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups water

2 T distilled white vinegar

1 t vanilla extract

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottoms of three 8-in round cake pans with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in the oil and sour cream (at this point it tastes like thick brownie batter mmmmmm). Gradually whisk in the water, then the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Divide among the cake pans.

Bake for 35 minutes (more like 25 if you're using 9-in pans), and use a knife to test the middle.

Let cool on racks. (I like to wrap mine in plastic wrap once they're cool and pop in the freezer until I'm ready to frost. It makes the frosting behave; it stiffens on the cold layers. This is especially important as this week was the first really hot, humid week we had here. The cake almost died in transportation.)

Make your Peanut Butter Frosting:

(ok, I lied a little bit. This part is best done with a mixer).

Ingredients:

12 oz softened cream cheese

1 stick softened butter

5 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural)

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat a few minutes more before adding the peanut butter, then beat until completely blended.

Frost your cake, and top with Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze:

Ingredients:

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate

3 T smooth peanut butter

2 T light corn syrup

1/2 cup half and half

In a heat-proof bowl set over boiling water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter and corn syrup. Heat, stirring often, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the half and half.

This part can be messy....Carefully pour the glaze over the cake, letting it run down the sides in attractive drips. You might want to do this on a rack over a baking sheet. It's best to refrigeratethe cake for a half hour or so before cutting or moving, just to let it set up.

Nom nom nom nom.

Peanut Butter Torte (it's divine)

Last weekend Eric and I went to our new friend Elisa's apartment for a potluck-ish get-together. She made delicious shrimp-studded pasta for a main course.

There was never any question that I would be bringing a dessert as my contribution. It's odd, my identity here in Augusta is all wrapped up in my being a "baker." It's never been that before, I've always been "The Artist" or "The Local" or the "The Girl with Dreadlocks." (Yes, new-friends-who-know-me-as-baker, I had dreadlocks in college for awhile.) I'm sure the friend who've known me forever aren't surprised I've found a way to incorporate even more desserts into my life, but I'm not sure they trust my expertise as people here do :)

Anyway, as all I have been making is cakes recently, I thought I'd try a dessert of a different color for the potluck. I just got several new cookbooks in the mail, all of which I'm very excited about:

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads

Jim Lahey's My Bread (this is the no-knead guy)

Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques

Dorie Greenspan's From My Home to Yours

And the last is where I got the recipe for this fantastic PB Torte, and the lemon tart I'll feature next. Lemme tell you, people went ape for it.

Peanut Butter Torte from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

(Dorie's book is full of fantatic recipes, and she has a great blog, too)

The recipe says it serves 6-8, but I think really....more like 12. I'm not saying I wouldn't scarf down the 6 person size portion...but i probably shouldn't.

1 1/4 cups finely chopped salted peanuts (I only had honey roasted, so I used those and added a bit of salt to the filling)

2 t sugar

1/2 t instant espresso powder (I skipped this, it still tasted good)

1/4 t ground cinnamon

pinch grated nutmeg

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

24 oreo cookies, finely crumbled (food. processor.)

1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled

small pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

12 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 cups salted peanut butter, crunchy or smooth but not natural

2 T whole milk

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 (this is just to bake the crust)

Mix the oreo crumbs, butter and salt together in a small bowl. Press it into the sides and bottom of a greased spring form pan. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Toss 1/2 cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips in a small bowl and set aside. (This will be mixed into the filling later)

Whip 2 cups of heavy cream with a stand (with whisk attachment) or hand mixer until it holds medium peaks. Add only 1/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until it holds medium-firm peaks. Set the cream aside (in a new container, you'll need the mixer again)

With the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and remaining 1 cup powdered sugar until very smooth. Add the peanut butter, 1/4 cup chopped peanuts and the milk.

Use a spatula to gently stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream. Stir in the peanut/spice/chocolate mixture, then gently incorporate the rest of the whipped cream.

Scrape the mousse filling into the crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. I froze mine for a couple hour and it worked okay, but a longer refrigeration would be much better. My torte was kind of soft at the potluck.

Once the torte is set, heat the remaining 1/2 cup cream and pour over the bittersweet chocolate to create a chocolate ganache. Let sit for a minute and stir until very smooth. Pour it over the torte, and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup peanuts over the top.

Put it in the fridge for a couple more minutes to harden the ganache and remove the springform pan by either scraping a knife around the edges or circling a hot wet towel around the outside.

Serve and sigh with pleasure.

The KING Cake

Elvis "The King" is known for eating grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches; an immortal combination.

I just read that he often ate 12-15 sandwiches in ONE SITTING...that is DISGUSTING. According to wikipedia, he sometimes included bacon on his sandwiches as well.

I don't care what people say about it, I love wikipedia. I love it when one topic leads you to another, and before you know it, you're twenty pages deep, reading about Sid and Nancy or about the fattest 2 year old in the world, and you don't even remember how you got started, but boy are you well-informed.

Anyway, there is some very interesting information on Elvis...I would check it out.

This cake was inspired by three things: 1. The leftover caramel and pb frosting from our party. 2. The banana cupcakes from the party. 3. Elvis Presley.

The salted caramel and pb cream cheese frosting together was fantastic. I added a bit more pb, but the caramel gave it depth and a great flavor and the peanut butter wasn't overpowering as it can be sometimes.

I made the banana cupcakes into 2 9-in layers and it turned out beautifully. I spread chocolate ganache between the layers before the frosting, and I glopped it on top, too.

The people who are brave enough to try it in the restaurant just love it.

Banana Cake recipe by Baked.

Preheat to 325 and grease 2 9-in cake pans.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cup AP flour

1 1/4 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 t vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cup mashed very ripe bananas (for me it was 3.5 bananas)

1/2 cup buttermilk

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside

In an electric mixer, beat the butter and shortening together until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the bowl and add the bananas...beat until just mixed. Turn mixer to low, add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for a few seconds.

cupcakes: makes 24. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

9-in cakes: bake about 35 minutes.

So Many Options!

Our friend Spencer is going to school for Genetic Counseling in Columbia, SC. For the next couple months, he is on rotation at the hospital here in Augusta, so he is staying with us a couple nights a week.

So last night, we had a little party to introduce him around, and there was Satay Chicken, Mozzarella-Tomato-Pesto Sandwiches, Stuffed Mushrooms and CUPCAKES (of course.)

I made Chocolate Cupcakes, Banana Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Frosting and Salted Caramel Frosting, and let people mix and match.

First make some home-made caramel. My directions are on this blog here. Let cool to room temperature.

For the Frosting, I made a basic Cream Cheese Frosting to start.

Whip 1.5 sticks softened unsalted butter, 1 lb of cream cheese til smooth, then blend in a 1/2 cup heavy cream and 2 t vanilla. Then slowly add 2 whole pounds of powdered sugar.

We divided the frosting in half, and mixture one part with Peanut Butter (to taste, really.)

When the caramel is cool, mix it in with the other half.

These flavors are divine and cream cheese is TASTY.

Banana Cupcakes from Baked.

(see The KING post above)

Chocolate Cupcakes adapted from Martha. Makes about 12.

I was in a rush and put the sugar in the bowl with the dry ingredients, then tried to scoop it out and as a result, my creaming action was more like gravy. It turned out okay though.

Preheat oven to 350.

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1.5 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 t vanilla

1/2 buttermilk (original recipe called for sour cream, but I didn't have any)

Mix cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, then add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. Add vanilla. Scrape down the bowl, then add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermik, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl and mix for a few seconds. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 and bake at 350 for 20-25 min, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Would you like to impress people with your amazing cheezecake skillz? Here is your chance.

This is the kind of dessert that causes people to moan in ecstasy and sit with their eyes glazed over long after the plate is scraped clean. It doesn't last long at the restaurant, which is ironic, because I made it because cheesecake stays fresh longer than fruity desserts. In fact, some cheesecakes even improve with age. However, we'll probably never know if that's true about this cake, because people simply won't allow it to live that long.

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

recipe adapted from recipezaar.

Crust:

I mixed about 1 cup Graham Cracker crumbs with 1/4-1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1/4 cup or so sugar, then melted a 1/2 stick+ of butter and mixed that in as well. (sorry, I wasn't really measuring at this point. follow your heart when it comes to the crust. you can even use oreos or teddi grahams, and some recipes suggest processing peanuts in with the cookie crumbs.) Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-in springform pan and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Also, preheat to 275.

Filling:

2 lbs cream cheese, softened. (4 8oz packages)

5 eggs, room temperature

1.5 cups firmly packed brown sugar (I only had .5 cup brown sugar, so I also used .5 cup white sugar and .5 cup dark brown sugar. I figured it evened it out.)

1 cup smooth peanut butter

.5 cup whipping cream or heavy cream

1 t vanilla extract

12 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped.

Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese til smooth. Add the eggs one by one, blending thoroughly between each. Add sugar, peanut butter, cream and vanilla, and blend well. Stir in the PB cups and pour into the chilled crust.

Prepare a water bath, so the water comes an inch up the sides of the pan. Bake at 275 for 1.5 hrs or until only the middle jiggles slightly. Let cool inside the oven, turned off, with the door cracked open.

Topping:

The original recipe calls for a sour cream topping made from 3 oz sour cream and .5 cup sugar and a dash of vanilla. It's good, I tried it on the first version of this cheesecake I made. However, this time I decided it needed more chocolate to balance out the PB, so I made chocolate ganache and poured it over the top of the cheesecake before chilling.

Heat 3/4 cup heavy cream until bubbly around the edges, then mix in 1-1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, letting stand for a minute before stirring smooth.

Let the cheesecake chill for a few hours, or preferably overnight before serving. Sprinkle Chopped PB cups on top of the ganache for garnish.

Lisa Michele's Levain Cookies

This will eventually be a post about Levain's chocolate cookies and the many attempts to make them, but first I am going to share my experience of New York City's food with you.

When I lived in New York City in the spring, I explored the city through bakeries. I'd hear or read about some fantastic bakery, then set off the first chance I got, even if it meant changing trains 5 times because of closed lines and walking 3 miles in the rain and venturing absurdly far off my beaten path. One pivotal afternoon, I sat on the floor of Barnes and Noble. (in NYC, the B and N's don't have comfy chairs to lounge in. The only chairs there are at Starbucks, and they patrol those, making sure you are actively sipping an expensive drink. They don't want to encourage loitering, I suppose.)

Anyway, I found a book called (I think) Gourmet in NYC, and it listed fantastic food according to parts of the city (Upper West Side, Chinatown, Brooklyn, the Village, etc). It featured not only bakeries, but chocolate specialty stores, butchers, cheese shops and ice cream parlors. I sat on the floor and carefully copied places and locations into the notebook I carried with me everywhere. I referenced this list often, determined to seek out these notable eateries. I focused mostly on the bakeries, with occasional side trips to the chocolate, ice cream and of course, Rice to Riches (for rice pudding in any flavor you can dream.)

I think my most ridiculous trip involved taking the train to another train to a bus and then walking through Redhook, Brooklyn just to taste the wares of Baked and of Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie. (totally worth it- Baked has amazing cookies and very creative brownies like stout brownies. and at Steve's I sampled frozen chocolate dipped key lime pie on a stick.

And I wondered why my wedding body was slow in coming.)

I loved Redhook. It is on the water and has a lonely feeling I didn't experience anywhere else in crowded NY. While there, I stumbled upon the Waterfront Museum, run by a man who restored an old tugboat, and now lives there with his family. They put on circuses in the summer and open up their home for tours a couple days a week.

I had to walk a very long way to find a train back to the inhabited portions of the city. I know I was stumbling around wide-eyed with my nose stuck in my Not-For-Tourists map and info book. (A must for anyone new to the city.)

Anyway, I told you that to tell you this: Probably the most famous cookies in NYC can be found at Levain Bakery on the Upper West Side. They have Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, and Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and these cookies are MASSIVE. And DIVINE. A nice way to spend the afternoon is to take the train to Levain, then walk over a few blocks and park yourself and a book at Strawberry Fields in Central Park to munch away.

When I got back to Virginia in May, I was struck with a hankerin for these delicious cookies, and in searching the internet, I found several recipes which satisfied my craving for huge almost raw in the middle cookies. The Levain website even has a page dedicated to the many knock-off recipes out there. (I guess they are that confident that no one will crack their secret recipe.)

Today, I followed two of these recipes, one for the Chocolate chip Walnut, and one for the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. They are both good, but I love the chocolate PB a bit more than I love the walnut. (as a rule, I hate nuts in cookies, but these are good.)

Here are the links to the recipe and recipe from the blog Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives.

And here are the cookies at the restaurant:

If you are interested, here are some other food locales that I would highly recommend (I was in NYC about 4 months):

Magnolia Bakery (greenwich village)

Absolute Bagels (upper ws)

Max and Mina's Icecream (queens)

Australian Homemade (icecream and gelato) (east village)

Donut Plant (lower es)

Amy's Bread (midtown)

Grom (gelato) (upper ws)

Hungarian Pastry Shop (upper ws)

Junior's Restaurant (cheesecake) (brooklyn)

Grimaldi's Pizza (bklyn)

Di Fara Pizza (ah-mazing) (bklyn)

Brooklyn Icecream Factory (bklyn)

Angelica Kitchen (vegan restaurant, and AMAZING even to non-vegans. I am definitely non-vegan.) (300 E 12th)

Smokejoint (BBQ) (bklyn)

Other places to go:

Brooklyn Flea Market

Prospect Park

Brooklyn Bridge/Grimauldi's

free nights at the art museums (Brooklyn Museum, MAD Museum, Queens Museum, Moma, Whitney, the Met) (some are free all the time)

MetroNorth to DiaBeacon

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Coney Island (pure ridiculousness)

I heard a lot about governor's island, but I never went.