When my uncle lived in Tennessee for awhile he developed somewhat of an obsession for Elvis. Now not the kind that Elvis was used to(no panties were flying here ) But an obsession with finding all things tacky that were Elvis related…which lucky for him, was not hard to do. It became sort of a quest for me too. My aunt of course hated this with a passion and discouraged it greatly…I still do it…giving him Elvis wine for his wine cellar just this last year :P. My best find however, came on the Mexican border, when I found a velvet painting of Elvis(his later, fatter years) dressed as a bullfighter and crying. I knew that would push my aunt over the edge and so I passed since I thought I would be nice to still get to talk to her at family functions.
I was trying to figure out what to do with my leftover brioche. On one of Dorie’s side notes she talked about Bostock, a treat that the French came up with to use up their stale brioche. Traditionally it calls for almond cream and almonds, but I thought, hey, Elvis had a birthday this month, why not make a peanut butter and banana version of this and that is what I did.
I soon discovered why there is no peanut butter pastry cream…it separates something horrible :|. I did however strain it and reheat and it turned out much better. It doesn’t puff up like the almond cream would because it is oh so heavy. But it was good and a different way to start off the day instead of oatmeal.

Peanut Butter Pastry Cream

1/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg yolk

Place sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir in cream and using a figure 8 pattern, stir until it starts to thicken. Add peanut butter and stir. Put half the mixture in another bowl with an egg yolk and whisk vigorously. Put the mixture with the egg back into the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Put pastry cream in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate.

Bostock:

Cut a slice of brioche 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Spread the bread with peanut butter cream. leaving a little border bare. Put the bread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 350F oven for about 10-15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

I’m not one for hype usually. And the Magnolia Bakery in NY sure gets a lot of hype. All over some cupcakes, that you wait in line for and can only buy 12 at a time. Out of curiosity I bought the More from Magnolia Bakery cookbook a few years back to try out their vanilla cupcake recipe. It is my favorite by far. So to me it was worth the hype. I bought the first Magnolia Cookbook and last week At Home with Magnolia came out and I made sure to buy that. Now I hadn’t seen it because I ordered off Amazon, like the majority of my cookbooks, and I didn’t know what it would be about. I must admit that I am a little sad because there is only a small section on desserts, which of course I am all about. But overall it looks like a good cookbook and my first treat from it was well received by my husband. The recipe calls for peanut butter chips, which I was out of but will most definitely buy for the next time I make these. I used chocolate chips instead.

Peanut Butter Blondies with White Chocolate and Pecans

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips*
1/2 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Preheat oven to 325F.
Grease and lightly flour and 8 inch square baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter with the peanut butter and the sugars until smoothm about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the pecans, chocolate chips and the white chocolate, reserving 2 TBSP of each.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved pecans, chips and white chocolate evenly over the top and, using a spatula, gently press into the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs attached.
Do not overbake. Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

*the original recipe calls for peanut butter chips and I didn’t have any so I used chocolate chips instead.
Source: At Home with Magnolia: Classic American Recipes from the Owner of Magnoila Bakery by Allysa Torey 2006

Blog party madness is upon us and though I had much fun last time making circus cookies for kid’s party, I think this month’s theme is just as fun. Literary Party is this month’s theme and you must pick a book that you have read and make a food item inspired by it. Though my book club had recently read Julie and Julia, I had no desire to do anything in aspic, so I looked for a different option. I read a book a couple months back that I immediately fell in love with. It’s called Candy and Me by Hilary Liftin. It is a overview of her life and the role that sugar and candy have played in it. I could totally relate to this book, for I am a sugar-aholic and a candy freak. Now amazing as it is to some people I prefer gummy candies and licorice to chocolate(I know, I know). But I love Red Vines and Swedish Fish. However, I didn’t see that as an appeasing dessert. So in honor of my husband I once again made something with peanut butter and chocolate….though with a slight twist for me.

I love cookie dough. I am guilty on many an occasion of eating it out the bowl before it even makes it to the pan(and you have too). So I some how wanted to incorporate cookie dough into this dessert. I started by making peanut butter cookies. Instead of making them into a cookie, I spread them out on to a 9 X 13 inch pan. It makes for a pretty thick cookie bar, which is exactly what I wanted. I baked them for 20 minutes. They had a nice bottom and outside crust but were still pretty doughy in the inside(perfect for what I was going for). If you are not happy with the idea of eating cookie dough, then bake for another 10 minutes. Next I made a layer of cream cheese peanut butter frosting and finished off with a peanut butter chocolate ganache.

Mom’s Peanut Butter Cookies(Source: Caprial’s Desserts)

1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup peanut butter

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat Oven to 350F. Grease a sheet pan and set aside.

Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs and vanilla, then add the peanut butter and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth.

Using a 9 X 13 spread the cookie dough evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. If you want a less doughy cookie, bake for 10 minutes longer.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting Layer

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

milk(for thinning)

In a mixer combine the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the milk slowly until it becomes a spreadable consistency.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup peanut butter

Place the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a bowl. Heat the cream up to a boil. Once it starts to boil, pour it over the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.

Assemble: Once the cookie dough layer is out of the oven, let it cool completely. Spread the cream cheese layer. Then follow up with the ganache layer.

All text and images on this site have ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright (c) 2006 by Peabody Rudd.

I almost forgot my drink. I do not have a picture of it, as I do not have any ingredients for it. I really don’t know when it came out but we use to drink the virgin version of these when I was a kid. To make the virgin version just substitute Coca-Cola for the Kahlua.

Tootsie Roll
- 2 parts Kahlua
- 3 parts Orange juicePour ingredients over ice into martini glass and garnish with tootsie roll.

So it is cruel irony that I made this cake and don’t get to eat it(dreaded diet). Fortunately this is something my husband will gladly eat. But enough about my sorrows.

One of my favorite chefs of all time is Marcel Desaulniers. He is most known for his one cookbook, Death By Chocolate. But I fell in love with his cooking watching his PBS cooking show, which many people never saw. He is very creative and in my opinion greatly overlooked. I had the chance to eat at his wonderful restaurant, the Trellis, in Williamsburg, VA. If you are ever in the neighborhood I suggest you stop by.

And as much as I love him he does have a downfall…he makes really complicated desserts. And though I personally have the time and patience, not many other people do. What stops me from making his stuff all the time? Cost. All of his stuff takes a lot of ingredients and since I am snob about chocolate and what not, the price can add up. The recipe I did today is only part of a whole cake. The original cake is a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake. I chose not to make the whole thing since many of my friends say my food is lovely but they wouldn’t have the time to make it. So this is hopefully a recipe they can make. The cake itself is actually great by itself but for the food porn factor I had to make the icing.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

2 ounces unsalted butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar

3 ounces creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup hot water

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F.

Grease three 9 x 1 1/2 inch pans.(I personally used just one 9 x 13 pan). Line your bottoms with parchement. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter for two minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and mix for another 2 minutes. Scarpe down the sides and mix for another minute.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix until incorportated about 20 seconds. Then add the sour cream, mixing again for 20 seconds. Gradually add the remaining flour mixture.  Add the hot water in a slow, steady stream and mix on low to combine, about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and mix for another 10 seconds. Add the chocolate chips and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Divide the cake batter into the prepared pans, spreading it evenly. Bake for about 22 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Icing 

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/8 cup granulated sugar

2 TBSP peanut butter

1 TBSP unsalted butter

Place the chocolate in a bowl and set aside. Heat the cream, butter, peanut butter and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When hot, stir to disolve sugar and peanut butter. Bring to a boil. Pour the cream mixture over. Wait 5 minutes and stir the mixture until smooth. Place in fridge for about 5-10 minutes and place into a pipe bag.

Assemble:

Cut cake into square pieces. Place one piece on your plate. Pipe your icing just around the perimeter of the cake. Place another piece of cake on top. Again, pipe around the perimeter and follow up with one last piece of cake.

Source: Death by Chocolate Cake by Marcel Desaulniers

 

All text and images on this site have ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright (c) 2006 by Peabody Rudd.