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 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.