Peanut Butter Cheesecake with a Brownie Crust

It's been months since I posted any chocolate and peanut butter treats, that's just not right!  So here's another.  I don't need to convince you how great the flavor combination is.  I made this as one of several desserts for a party for my Abstract Algebra students.  I never have students over without serving cheesecake, it's so easy and quick, it serves a lot, most people really like it, and there are endless flavor combinations!  And it can be made ahead of time, perfect for parties!  You could definitely serve this on an oreo crust if you prefer, but I really like the brownie texture.

 

Peanut Butter Pie

Is there a limit to the number of peanut butter and chocolate recipes I can post?  I just can't get enough of that flavor combination.  If you feel the same way, you'll like this pie. The mousse is fluffy and creamy, and the crust adds some crunch; in between, just a little bit of chocolate...  you might even want more.


The crust is from the ICE class I took in August.  It has baking powder in it. I'm not sure I've ever put baking powder in pie crust before.  I've been reading the book Bakewise the past few days, and learning lots about leavening and flours, but so far only on their role in cakes, not pie crust.  But Nick Malgieri claims that the "baking powder encourages the dough to puff slightly while baking so that it presses into the hot pan bottom and bakes through evenly, preventing an underdone bottom crust." I like the result.



Oh, and this is my favorite pie/pi plate!  See the 3.14159 on top?  The numbers around the edge are the digits of the number π, well, all the digits that fit anyway.  π is irrational, so the digits go on forever, with no repetition.  On the base of the plate is a huge blue π symbol.  Isn't it adorably geeky?  Love it!
And thank you Ana and Makisha for all your help!

Cupcake Party!

Here's a great idea: have a cupcake party!  Sound silly?  Really, it'll be fun.  It's a lot cheaper than a night on the town, you can nurture your creative side and catch up with friends, and it's hard not to have fun while baking and decorating cupcakes.  I recently did a cupcake workshop with a dozen students at my school, and though they had homework to do and papers to write, everyone just relaxed and had fun for a few hours.  Huge dose of stress relief!

So invite some friends over, and tell them to bring along a hand mixer or two, some muffin tins, some sprinkles, maybe some M&M's, a jar of Nutella perhaps...  Pair up, and make your cupcake batters.  Then just keep filling and baking those cupcakes.  Stick the muffin tins in the freezer or outside in the cold to cool off between rounds.  A dozen of us made well over 200 hundred cupcakes in just a few hours.  Once the batter is done, start making frosting while keeping a watchful eye on the cupcakes. When the frosting is done and the cupcakes are cool, put out all the frostings, sprinkles, and other decorations, and get creative!


At our cupcake event, we made 4 kinds of cake:  peanut butter, chocolate, graham cracker, and brown sugar; 3 frostings:  brown sugar cream cheese, vanilla frosting (in 4 colors), marshmallow.  We also made chocolate ganache for filling the cupcakes and caramel to fill or drizzle over the cupcakes.  But 2-3 varieties of cake and frosting is plenty, especially for a smaller group.  Here are a couple recipes to get you started.

Macarons with the Daring Bakers

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I love macarons! My first macaron was two years ago in Paris at Pierre Herme. I wasn't reading food blogs daily at the time, and they were new to me. When I got home, I started looking for various recipes. I tried David Lebovitz's chocolate mac recipe, and they tasted great, but no feet. Then I tried another plain recipe, and no feet. Then one day I was at a bakery in DC buying macarons, and a baker came out of the kitchen, so I asked him about feet. He told me to add a little powdered egg white to the whites to help stabilize. He also told me to age the egg whites at least a week, and maybe even two. Finally - feet! Leaving the piped macarons out to dry before baking has helped a lot too. I think these may be my best two batches of macarons yet, I'm so excited. My new trick: use a second baking sheet underneath your sheet of shells, this helps the shells cook thoroughly without burning. The Nutella and Dulce de Leche fillings were amazing. I'll be making these again, exactly as is, again and again!!

Thanks so much Ami for such a great pick this month; check out lots of other great macarons here!





Tartelette's Macaron Recipe (with some very slight modifications)

For the shells:
90 gr egg whites (about 3) 30 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar 110 gr almonds (or almond powder) 1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered egg whites (not in Tartelette's recipe)

Place the powdered sugar, almonds, and espresso powder in a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are finely ground. Even if you use almond powder or ground almonds, I strongly recommend running everything through the food processor. Otherwise, there might be chunks of almonds big enough to clog the tip when you pipe the macaron batter later on.

Beat the egg whites to a foam. You can use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, but I prefer to beat egg whites with a hand mixer so as not to overbeat.

Gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Don't go all the way to stiff peaks.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small peak, give the batter a couple of more folds. If you fold too much, the macarons may develop wrinkly shells.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets.

Preheat the oven to 280F.

Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour; they may be ready by the time you're done piping all the batter. If you touch them, they should have dried out and firmed up a bit. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on their size. In my oven, 23 minutes is perfect for tiny macarons (1/2 inch diameter), 25 for 1" - 1 1/4 " diameter.

Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

To fill: pipe or spoon some Nutella or Dulce de Leche on the flat part of one cookie, and top with a second cookie.

Nutella Macs

Dulce de Leche Macs

Here's the recipe for the Pierre Herme macaron (with some slight modifications that worked better in my oven). More pictures, and the recipe for the peanut butter filling, are in my previous post.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Macarons - A Pierre Herme Recipe

1 1/3 cups finely ground almond powder
2 cups + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large, aged and room temperature)
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered egg whites


Run the almond powder, powdered sugar, and cocoa through the food processor to remove all clumps.

Beat egg whites and dried egg whites on low to medium speed until white and foamy. Turn up to high and whip to firm but not stiff peaks. You want them glossy and supple; when you lift the beater, the whites should form a peak that droops a little.

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three or four additions. It will seem like you have too much dry ingredients, but keep folding. I think I overfolded though, because I got wrinkly tops (never had that happen before). The white will deflate.

Spoon the batter into a pastry bag, and pipe 1" circles, about 1" apart on parchment paper or a baking mat. Rap the baking sheets on the counter (do it hard, to get the air out of the batter). Let the macarons sit and dry out a bit while the oven preheats.

Preheat the oven to 310 F.

Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven. Peel the parchment from the baking sheet, and drop a few drops of very hot water between the baking sheet and the parchment paper. Move the pan around to let the water spread out over the whole sheet. The steam will help loosen the cookies. Remove the cookies from the parchment. Let cool.

Pipe a circle of peanut butter cream on one cookie, and top with a second cookie. Enjoy!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Love

Chocolate Peanut Butter Stack

Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons

I love chocolate and peanut butter - I love them individually and I adore them together. When I was a kid, my poor mom never knew what to give me for lunch, or breakfast for that matter. I didn't like sandwiches, I definitely had no interest in peanut butter and jelly. There was a time I got to have milkshakes for breakfast, because hey, there is protein in there - especially when they're low on the ice cream and big on the milk. I was not easy. I'm still not easy when it comes to food, but I have made some important realizations about myself when it comes to food:


* I cannot eat sugar or white flour before dinner, or I'll be exhausted and without energy the rest of the day (maybe a small cookie, but no cake for breakfast for me, even white rice at lunch wreaks havoc with my blood sugar).

* I need my food (meals at least) to be warm. If I eat cold pizza, it barely registers, but if I have the same amount of pizza warm, it's a meal! Why is that? There has to be a scientific reason.

* I need to eat every 3-4 hours, or my head feels like it's going to explode!

* I am definitely a foodie.

What is the point of all these brilliant observations? Well, I'm definitely a happier person knowing all of this. And, perhaps more importantly, I now realize that I love peanut butter and jelly, as long as it's on whole wheat bread (or a whole wheat bagel) that has been toasted! So delicious! I eat half a whole wheat bagel (toasted!) with peanut butter and raspberry jam almost every day.

One happy consequence of this new discovery? I always have peanut butter in the house, jars and jars, and can whip up a batch of either of these delicious confections. They're like peanut butter cups, but way better.






Chocolate Brownie/Cake (adapted from King Arthur Flour):

2 sticks (8 ounces) butter

3/4 cup (2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder

4 large eggs

2 cups (14 ounces) sugar

1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 10" x 15" pan with baking spray. (You can use a 9 x 13, but the cake will be thicker.)

Melt the butter, stir in the cocoa powder. Cover, and set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs for 3 minutes (REALLY, no cheating!), then gradually add the sugar, beating 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in the butter/chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the flour and salt until just combined.


Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Start

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely.

Peanut butter filling (from Zoe Bakes):

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat together all of the ingredients until smooth.

To Assemble the Cakes:

Use a biscuit cutter to cut out small circles of cake. Mine are 2," but that yields a very intense serving. A little smaller might be better.

Gather three cake circles for each serving. Top two of the three circles with a generous dollop of peanut butter filling. Place one of the peanut butter topped circles on the other. Top with the final cake circle. Dust with powdered sugar immediately before serving.

*This dessert is so easy, and really good. My friend (also my go-to chocolate-peanut butter recipe tester) declared this to be possibly her favorite dessert ever!

The filling for these macarons is the same as above. The shells are a Pierre Herme recipe - coming soon!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cake

I'm starting this blog primarily as a means of documenting my desserts, and as motivation to attempt taking better pictures. I will also be teaching a baking course in January, and I want a place for my students to document their work as well.

When I'm not baking, there's a good chance that I'm working out (gotta burn off all those baked goods), dancing, teaching math, or doing number theory research... or reading recipes... or dreaming up new dessert ideas... so much to bake, so little time! My To Bake list is over ten pages long now, so I have lots to do.




I am a peanut butter addict, as you will no doubt soon discover. I rarely ate it as a child, but now it's part of my daily diet - in sweet or savory form. This peanut butter cake is one of my all time favorite cakes. I've made it for my birthday three years in a row now, it's just that good. It's a peanut butter cake with a chocolate/peanut butter ganache, and cream cheese frosting. I found it in Bon Appetit (covered in Butterfingers in their version, which seems like overkill, even to me), and it's definitely best on day 2 or 3, after the flavors have had a chance to marry. The cream cheese frosting is particularly good: not overly sugary and very creamy.



Recipe (Adapted from Bon Appetit):
For Ganache Filling: (Make the night before)

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter

For Cake:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter
1 pound golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Prepare the ganache filling:

Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight or for several hours. If left overnight, you may need to microwave the ganache briefly in order to make it spreadable.

Prepare the cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. with baking spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. Spray again. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter in a large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.
Divide the batter among the pans, spreading evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool completely.
Prepare the frosting:

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Whisk or beat the heavy cream and 1 cup powdered sugar in bowl until mixture holds medium-firm peaks. Fold into the cream cheese mixture in 3 additions; chill until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour.

Assemble the cake:

Level each cake layer. Place 1 cake layer on a cardboard cake round or cake plate protected by strips of wax paper or parchment paper. Spread with half of the ganache, leaving a slight border at the outside edge. Place another layer on top of the first layer. Spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate with chocolate shavings.

Serving:

You can serve the cake immediately, but it's best to let it sit (in the refrigerator) for a few hours or overnight. Serve at room temperature. Freeze leftovers (or the entire cake!) for up to two months. Defrost (still wrapped) overnight; or microwave directly from the freezer for a messier, more gooey slice of cake.



Thanks to Satyan for taking most of these pics.