peanut butter

MONSTER TOFFEE BROWNIE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

BROWN BUTTER CRUMBLE Ingredients:

  • 56g 1/4 Cup Caster Sugar
  • 50g 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 188g 1 + 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 114g 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Browned, Chilled & Cubed
  • 1 Large Egg
  • Pinch of Salt

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (375F)
  2. Combine all dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse to combine.
  3. Add the butter cubes and pulse just until you get a texture resembling coarse bread crumbs.
  4. Add the egg and pulse just till combined.
  5. Crumble the mixture into small pieces like a crumble over the baking tray.
  6. Bake until it begins to turn lightly golden. Set aside to cool before using. 40-50 minutes.

 

PB NUTELLA APPLE BLONDIE

  • 400g (2 Cups, Packed) Dark Brown Sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 500g (2 Cups) peanut butter, Smooth
  • 250g (3/4 Cup + 1 Tablespoon) Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread of your choosing
  • 188g (3/4 Cup) Applesauce, Unsweetened

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C 350°F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with foil, extending the sides of the foil over the edges of the pan. Spray the foil with with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and eggs, then whisk in the vanilla.
  3. With a wooden spoon, stir in the peanut butter until a thick and creamy batter forms; it is ready when no plain peanut butter can be seen and all the ingredients are incorporated.
  4. Spread half of the peanut butter cookie dough batter into the bottom of the pan and press it into a single, even layer. Spoon the Nutella over the cookie dough layer. You may want to spoon the Nutella into a separate bowl and microwave it briefly to soften it.
  5. Top the Nutella layer with the second half of the cookie dough, pressing it into an even layer.
  6. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden and the center is set – it may have a firm wobble like a firm set jelly; this is ok as it will continue to set as it cools.
  7. Crumble the crumble into little bite sized pieces all over till there are no gaps left.
  8. Repeat the same step with similar sized honey peanuts in little clusters till it is just covering the crumble.

 

CARAMELIZED PEANUT TOFFEE  Ingredients:

  •  226g 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 200g 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • Small pieces of Honey Candied Peanuts, 1 Recipe (Recipe Here)

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
  2. Combine butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat till it is liquid.
  3. Bring the heat to medium, allow the mixture to come to a boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes.
  4. Stir constantly, switch off the stir in the vanilla and salt.
  5. Pour the mixture as evenly as you can all over the peanuts, tap the tray a few times on the counter to even out the mixture.
  6. Bake for anywhere between 20-35 minutes or so, depending on your oven or how long it takes to get the heat to the toffee. You are looking for the sides to bubble up with little foam, and start to form just a few big air bubbles here and there at the center.
  7. Remove from oven to cool, use a spatula or flat utensil to compact the nuts while it is hot just to give you a really neat and tight bar. It will also make slicing it neater.
  8. I cooled mine to room temperature then chilled overnight before slicing.
  9. To slice, make sure you use a gentle, sawing motion with a serrated knife until you get through the toffee peanut layer, then you can just press down to cut through the brownie.
  10. Store airtight at room temperature for a couple of days if it isn’t too hot or humid, or store in fridge so the brownie & caramel doesn’t get too soft.
  11. NOTE: If you make all the toffee foam up more by baking longer you’ll get harder, crispier toffee, but I wanted a firm but slightly chewy caramel – having so much crispy texture to work with already.

ULTIMATE PEANUT BUTTER JELLY BACON CAKE – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

HONEY CANDIED PEANUT CRUMBS

  • 500g (3 + 1/2 Cup) Raw peanuts, skinned
  • 100g (1/3 Cup) Honey
  • 100g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
  2. Stir together honey and sugar to form a paste. Using your hands, on a medium sized baking tray toss and coat to make sure all the peanuts are coated in the paste.
  3. Compact & flatten out the peanuts so the caramelisation happens on the peanuts not just between them.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring the mixture to toss and coat as soon as bubbles begin to appear on the mixture.
  5. Once the mix turns a dark amber color and the peanuts are well coated it is ready.
  6. About 20-30 additional minutes. Total of 40-50 minutes baking with stirring in between as necessary for even browning.
  7. Cool on baking tray completely before smashing with rolling pin in a zip-lock bag, or pulse it a few times in a processor till you get the desired chunky crumbs.
  8. Keep it airtight and only break it into pieces as you use them or they tend to stick together into clumps again.

 

 

BACON CRUMBS Ingredients:

  • 8 Bacon Strips

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C (390F).
  2. On a baking tray, spread out the bacon strips without overlapping and bake for 20 min or so until crispy.
  3. Allow to cool on paper towels to remove excess grease.
  4. Chop into fine crumbs or use a processor. This is also up to you, but slightly bigger crumbs give more texture and finer crumbs less so. I chopped them about 3mm or so.

 

 

BACON PEANUT TOFFEE SHARDS Ingredients:

  • 70g (1/2 Cup) Roasted Peanuts
  • Crispy Bacon Crumbs
    (Left over from stacked cake, about 3 TBSP)
  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter
  • 113g (1/2 Cup) Caster Sugar
  • 15ml (1 Tablespoon) Water
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) – you can do the roasting of the peanuts while you do the candied peanuts as they are the same temperature.
  2. Spread raw peanuts on a tray and bake until they are slightly golden and very fragrant.
  3. Grease small 8″ square pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  4. Melt butter, sugar, water and the salt in a saucepan over low heat.
  5. Stir frequently with wooden spoon until mixture boils, turn the heat to medium.
  6. Once the mix reaches 151C (305F), switch off the heat and stir in roasted peanuts and vanilla. It’s very helpful to gauge the pace of how the temperature goes up to anticipate when it should hit 151C, so you won’t go too far beyond the temperature as you start the next step.
  7. Add in vanilla, being careful as it will splatter.
  8. Stir in the roasted peanuts immediately till incorporated.
  9. Pour into baking pan, spreading it out with your wooden spoon to even out the layer. Use this chance to make the peanuts evenly distributed in terms of position if you want a very even toffee.
  10. Sprinkle the bacon all over.
  11. Chill in fridge till firmly set before breaking into shards with a rolling pin to decorate with. The whole piece should easily flip out when you turn the pan upside down and jiggle it a little.
  12. Can be kept at room temperature but airtight after you break it up. Keeps well.

 

 

PB ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM Ingredients:

  • 5 Large Egg Whites (150g), Room Temp
  • 375g (2 Cups) Caster Sugar, Divided
  • 1 Pinch of Cream of Tartar
  • 1 Pinch of Salt
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 454g (2 Cups) Unsalted Butter, Room Temp
  • 260g (1 Heaped Cup) Peanut Butter, Smooth (To My Taste)
  • 150ml (2/3 Cup) Water

 

METHOD:

  1. Ensure all ingredients are weighed up and set up as this requires timing and precision for this recipe. You can prepare this days before making, just bear in mind that every time you store the buttercream back into the fridge it requires you to let it warm up then beat and whisk it till fluffy again before use.
  2. Combine half the sugar with water in a saucepan over medium heat.
  3. Stir gently just till the sugar dissolves. Brush along the sides of the pot with water to dissolve any sugar crystals. Alternatively, use a rolled up paper towel to wipe off those crystals.
  4. Once the sugar begins to bubble up, start whipping egg whites with cream of tartar on medium speed.
  5. Once the egg whites whip till it is doubled in volume and is thick enough for a spoon of it to sit on itself, begin to sprinkle in the other half of the sugar reserved.
  6. Get the meringue to stiff peaks, then switch the speed to a low speed if the sugar isn’t ready yet.
  7. I start inserting my thermometer once the sugar really bubbles up – if yours is a probe like mine make sure it isn’t touching the base of the pan or it isn’t accurate as it’s taking the pans temperature.
  8. Once the sugar mix reaches 113C (235F) – anticipate this by seeing the pace the temperature goes up so you know when it will happen – switch the mixer on high speed, drizzle in a constant, steady and thin stream of sugar down the side of the mixer bowl. Avoid hitting the whisk or you’ll send hot syrup everywhere.
  9. If you are not using a candy thermometer then you can spoon a bit into ice water. It should form a malleable ball of when you grab it with your hand, if it dissolves away then it isn’t ready.
  10. Whip until it is stiff peaks again.
  11. Feel the base of the bowl and make sure it is at least lukewarm if not cold, keep whipping on medium-high speed to cool it – don’t worry, the large amount of sugar prevents the meringue from over-whipping before it cools sufficiently.
  12. Now use very malleable and room temperature butter that have been cubed, beat it in a piece at a time with the paddle attachment attached. I made them into thin and tiny pieces about 3mm thick, 3cm squares just to make sure it blends easily.
  13. Continue to beat this on high speed until it is combined and then becomes chunky like cheese lumps. This is normal, don’t worry.
  14. Begin adding peanut butter and beating till combined. Start with 200g and go from there.
  15. Switch back to the whisk attachment and beat for a long while until it becomes very pale and super light and fluffy. Taste for flavour at this point as the airiness is right and taste will be most accurate to judge.
  16. Chances are you will be making this ahead of time and then storing it in the fridge for later use. In this case, bring it to room temperature or just until it is soft enough to beat.Beat with the paddle attachment to loosen the mix till combined but lumpy again.
  17. Use the whisk attachment to whip it till it is very light & airy again. You can also add the flavors at this point if you are just adding something like peanut butter and whisk it till it tastes like sweet, creamy air 😀
  18. When you decorate if you take a long time especially between chilling the cake, etc, you can put the buttercream in the fridge for 5-10 minutes and just whisk it up again to make it thick enough to decorate with.

 

 

WHITE TRES LECHE CAKE Ingredients:

  • 220g Cups Plain/All-Purpose Flour
  • 50g (5 Tablespoons) Cornflour
  • 395g (1 + 3/4 Cups) Caster Sugar
  • 1 + 1/4 Teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 + 1/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 4 Large Egg Whites (120g), Room Temp
  • 355ml (1 + 1/2 Cups) Milk
  • 225g (1 Cup) Sour Cream/Mascarpone/Plain Greek Yogurt, Strained
  • 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
  • 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 397g 1 (14 Oz) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 375ml 1 (12 Oz) Can Evaporated Milk
  • 60ml (1/4 Cup) Whole Milk

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F), Grease & line 2 x 8 inch sized deep pans with non-stick spray & baking paper.
  2. In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
  3. In another bowl, whip egg whites till soft peak stage on lowest speed that you can whilst actually whipping up the whites (where it doubles in volume at least and a spoonful of it sits on itself without sinking). Continue for a bit longer till it just clings to the whisk without going quite to stiff peaks.
  4. Add the milk, sour cream, juice and vanilla to dry ingredients, whisking till well combined.
  5. Fold in the meringue in two parts. First, 1/3 is whisked in vigorously to lighten mixture, and last folded in gently to keep it airy. This is easiest by using a whisk, using one hand to turn the bowl inwards whilst the other brings the whisk in, under and then gently lift it up and let the batter fall back. Cut through the middle of the batter once in a while, and you can lightly swirl the surface if any lumps of egg white won’t blend in before doing more folding. Do this only until it is combined, if you play with it too much you’ll deflate the air.
  6. Divide batter across pans as evenly or use a scale if you prefer. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre. Don’t test until the cake is no longer jiggling anymore.
  7. Set on a wire rack.
  8. Allow Cake to completely cool. You can either run a knife around edges and turn the cake out, removing the paper, or you can actually set the pan still in tack after running knife around edges and set it on the pan to soak inside the pan – may help to keep the mixture in.
  9. Combine all the three types of milk in a small bowl till well mixed.
  10. Use a fork to poke all over the cooled cakes & soak all over (including edges) with milk mixture. Do this gradually, stop pouring when it isn’t soaking in fast to give it time to soak in what you have poured already.
  11. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour or overnight to infuse the flavor before assembling. I find the refrigeration really helps making the cake easier to handle.
  12. To cut the cake: divide each cake into 2 layers so you have 4 layers of sponge. Do this with a serrated knife, marking halfway all around the cake first, then start to saw back and forth along this guideline whilst turning the cake (turn the tray, might be easier and less damage to cake).
  13. Once you have cut all around the cake as you head towards centre of cake, you should have a clean cut layer. Carefully slide a plate under and transfer the layer onto a plate. Cake boards are also great for this kind of job.

 

 

ASSEMBLAGE Ingredients:

  • Strawberry/Raspberry Jam of Your Liking
  • Raspberries Fresh/Frozen

 

METHOD:

  1. Just before starting, chop the candied peanuts into half peanut or slightly smaller crumbs for a decent mouth-feel and texture. They stick together very easily so it is best to cut as you are about to use it.
  2. Spread a small dab of buttercream on the serving plate or board just enough to help the sponge layer stick.
  3. Place one of the sponge with crust-side down, centered. Use the plate to support as you adjust the position and start to slide it onto the serving board.
  4. Once happy, spread a layer of buttercream all over just enough to cover the sponge – you want it to come to the edge so you don’t have to worry about gaps when adding buttercream around the sides of the cake.
  5. Spread about 2 Tablespoons of jam but only to around 2cm or so from the edge so it doesn’t ooze over.
  6. Scatter over a handful of frozen or fresh raspberries over the jam section. Again, to keep the juices from bleeding out to the sides.
  7. Place over another sponge layer – doesn’t matter which side faces up here – the base needed the crust for some support.
  8. Repeat step for buttercream and jam, then sprinkle on generous handful of bacon crumbs and similar amount of candied peanut crumbs.
  9. Now add another layer of sponge, buttercream, jam, bacon crumbs and raspberries.
  10. Now cover the top sponge layer with buttercream, making it as level as possible, doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth.
  11. Now it is time to CRUMB COAT, which is to use some buttercream to seal in the crumbs before final decoration so it doesn’t drag into your final layer.
  12. Using an offset or regular spatula if you don’t have one, take a generous dollop and reach over to the far side away from you pointing downwards and spread left and right to distribute the buttercream.
  13. Do this till all the cake is just barely covered and any excess you remove or scrape off to make the sides neat and smooth make sure to put into a separate bowl so your main buttercream doesn’t get full of crumbs.
  14. If you don’t have a lazy susan or turn-table for cake decorating, just put the cake on a big bowl for support and it’ll be easier to turn the serving board when you point down with palette knife and apply even pressure to remove excess.
  15. This step is optional but I added more texture and flavor by doing another light sprinkling of both bacon and peanut crumbs – pressing them in gently with my fingers.
  16. Chill the cake till the buttercream is dry to the touch – you can use the freezer to speed this up.
  17. Now using the same technique to spread buttercream all around – it’s good to have lots of excess at this point.
  18. Make sure you have excess going well above the top edge of the cake, so you can level it easier later.
  19. Using same method, turn the cake and scrape away excess with your palette knife as straight and parallel to sides as you can.
  20. For the top, spread some over the crumbs to seal them in, then gently swoop the side excesses inwards to clean and level it off. This should give you an almost clean and level top with sharp edges.
  21. Any areas showing cake on sides or edges you are not happy with just remember you can patch in more buttercream and repeat the above steps to make it neater 🙂
  22. I froze my cake briefly again till the buttercream is set on the outside.
  23. Spread little generous teaspoon amounts of strained jam (without the lumps of fruit) in random parts on different heights at a time, spreading whilst turning the cake to get drags of almost water colour-like effects around the cake.
  24. I went back a few times to add more in places, or scrape away some parts to get more ‘brushed’ looks. This is all a bit more personal or intuitive so have fun with it.
  25. But don’t over do it too much or it may just get dirty with all of it covered in jam.
  26. Finally I used dark chocolate mirror glacage from another recipe on the channel to glaze the cake after it is chilled thoroughly in the fridge for at least 20-30 minutes.
  27. It was stored in my fridge so I had to melt it down on low heat, then blend with immersion blender till smooth – strain to remove air bubbles and any particles. Bring it to 32C (90F) before glazing.
  28. You need a tray and baking paper to catch any excess and dripping and that can be re-used if you want.
  29. Pour a generous amount from middle of cake top till it is about near the edge, and use back of a large spoon to guide little pushes to make it drizzle down by gravity all around where you like it.
  30. Be gentle but swift when you do this so it doesn’t set too quickly, whilst not making any air bubbles as they are hard to get rid of.
  31. Finally I quickly swirl the back of the spoon on the glaze spiraling into the center to help level it out and give it a nice few taps on the counter.
  32. You should have a very nice level glaze and super appealing drizzles down the sides.
  33. Finally just garnish with the toffee shards – just make sure you really push them into the sponge so they don’t fall off onto the glaze. You must do this before the glaze sets completely or you’ll tear or pull the glaze when it becomes sticky and thick from the gelatin setting.
  34. Keep chilled till serving, airtight once sliced or sponge dries out. Use a very hot knife to slice.

YOGURT FROSTING PEANUT BUTTER DONUTS – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

YOGURT PEANUT BUTTER CAKE DONUTS Ingredients:

  • 85g 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 115g 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 125ml 1/2 cup Milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 120g 3/4 cup Plain flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Large egg

 

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 180 350F
  2. Mix all ingredients together until smooth.
  3. Fill donut pan just shy of 2/3 full by piping two times around the molds close to the base.
  4. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch.

 

GREEK YOGURT PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING Ingredients:

  • 260g 1 cup greek yogurt
  • 265g 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 4 Tablespoons icing sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons milk (didn’t use)
  • Chocolate shavings

 

METHOD:

  1. Whisk all ingredients until combined. Add milk if in need of adjusting consistency to more of a stiff whipped cream consistency.
  2. You can beat the cream after chilling to get a smoother and airy texture.
  3. Snip the piping bag and pipe over cooled donuts in an up and down bouncing motion as you move around the ring of the donut, sprinkle with chocolate shavings.
  4. You can also dust lightly with icing sugar before serving.
  5. Can be served at room temperature for a day, then store chilled and in an airtight container.

SCRUMMY BAKERS BAR – Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

MANGO MATCHA BAR Ingredients:

  • 200g Rolled Oats
  • 2 Ripe Banana / 1 Cup 256g Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1/4 85g Cup Honey
  • Zest & Juice of 1/2 lemon/lime
  • 4-5 Tablespoons Flax Seeds / dried mangoes
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Matcha Powder (to dust) Or…
  • White sesame, toasted
  • Desiccated Coconut, unsweetened (to roll in)

 

METHOD:

  1. Toast sesame in a pan over medium heat, stirring frequently until brown and fragrant.
  2. In a bowl, combine oats, sesame, salt, chopped dried mangoes (bite size) and flax seeds.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice and honey.
  4. Mix together with the dried ingredients until well combined.
  5. In a cling wrap or baking paper-lined pan, place the mixture in and press to compress into a bar of desired thickness and size.
  6. Freeze until firm enough to slice, remove from pan and slice into small bars of choice. Store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge till needed.
  7. Dust with matcha powder before serving for best presentation.

 

 

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BITES Ingredients:

  • 40g 1/4 cup Cashew Nuts, toasted
  • 30g 1/4 cup oats
  • 100g cup natural Peanut butter
  • 20g honey
  • 2 Tablespoons Flax Seed
  • 35g Dried mulberries
  • Dark Chocolate, bittersweet 80%
  • Sea Salt

 

METHOD:

  1. Toast cashew nuts in a pan over medium heat until brown and fragrant.
  2. Add all ingredients except chocolate and salt into a processor.
  3. Blitz until a fine paste.
  4. Press into small bite sized molds, pressing firmly to ensure the mold is properly filled.
  5. Freeze until solid and pop out of the molds onto a lined tray. Allow to come to room temperature.
  6. Melt the chocolate in short 10 second intervals until smooth.
  7. Place some melted chocolate on top of each cube, and sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt over each one.
  8. NOTE: If you do it whilst the cubes are too cold, chocolate will set faster. I would recommend doing a few then adding the salt, and repeating with the rest.

 

SPICED COCOA BALLS Ingredients:

  • 100g Unsweetened Tahini
  • 70g Rolled Oats
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened
  • 4-5 Tablespoons Uncrystallised Ginger, Chopped
  • 20g Honey
  • Extra Cocoa Powder for rolling

 

METHOD:

  1. Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined.
  2. Roll into bite sized balls and keep airtight and chilled until needed.
  3. Roll in cocoa powder, toasted sesame seeds or coconut.

= P. BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH, BISCUIT BUTTER SOUFFLE CHEESECAKE = Original Recipe

Posted on by misterbowtie

IMG_6048

= PEANUT BUTTER, CHOC SPRINKLES COOKIE DOUGH with BISCUIT BUTTER & REESES / SOUFFLE CHEESECAKE =

PHEW! *Gasps for breath. Now THAT was probably by far the longest title we’ve ever had guys!

You read it right, all that goodness is going into this crazy, rich cake. And it’s a great fun if you’ve never heard of the two main components or tasted them before (the cookie dough and biscuit butter). So this cake is actually a birthday cake designed for a delightful lady friend at work, who’s birthday is coming up this Monday. At work she loves the baked raspberry cheesecake and peanut butter ganache cake that we do. With the information I have gathered over the year of working together and observing what she eats and her responses being positive or negative, I know that she hates jelly stuff, and is allergic to coconut. She clearly has a thing for cream cheese based or rich stuff, and LOVES peanut butter.

I’d have to admit with it being so close to Christmas time, my brain had been almost fine-tuned for those kind of recipes, and it was a strange feeling having to, in such a small time constraint of a mere few days withdraw from that and come up with a recipe that she would enjoy. My problem and dilemma with things like peanut butter and nutella is that for certain recipes I often feel that whilst it tastes good, if it was just a base recipe of some sort, swirled in with dollops or flavored by these, it almost seems like a lazy cheat. It’s like the recipe did not need much thought. Of course, there is a time and place for a recipe for this, like this would be something I would go for if I was doing lazy baking – which is stuff that make minimal fuss, mess and is essentially just for me to eat after a meal or take to work to have on my break after my savories.

But for an occasion like a Birthday which I always cherish as an important event as it is the day someone you cherish is born, so you are grateful for it, there is no room to be absolutely lazy and not put some serious thought into it. That’s why when I decided I would go for peanut butter as it was an ingredient I never really used much in desserts so far, I wanted it to be something unusual, something that you couldn’t just get from other places.

It didn’t take long for me to decide to use one of my favorite souffle cheesecake recipes. The reason behind was it was much simpler to make, whilst yielding really soft, spongy and moist cheesecakes with a minimal list of ingredients. This for a cake that was heading towards a few components meant it would be less harsh on budget 😛 But of course, if you follow me and read my recipes you may not be surprised that being me, when revisiting same recipes I like to try and vary it a little to see what other things can be done to it. For that purpose it came to me that I have thought about using mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese. And it was possible to bake it without any disastrous results as I have seen a tart made with just fruit and mascarpone cheese this year. Once confirmed that the substitution was a simple equal part one, it was decided!

Now I was lucky enough to have come across some videos from popsugargirls on youtube that happened to intrigue me. I was just a few weeks ago, experimenting with edible cookie dough based on a recipe I once used to make a filling for a friends graduation cake. However, it turned out the flour content of the recipe does not work for making it into a drink of some sort, as the flour gave an odd flavor. A friend of mine also seemed alarmed about the flour saying that certain places have flours that may make you sick if eaten raw. But this recipe I saw was a lot more similar to the first stages of a normal cookie recipe, whisking up the sugar and butter, etc. It seemed more pliable, and it had more ingredients which made it easier for me to substitute in ingredients like chocolate sprinkles and peanut butter without complication. It’s funny because when i wasn’t thinking about the recipe in the birthday cakes context, the cookie dough uses some apple sauce and I thought that would not be very desirable for a patisserie/business as its high on the perishable chart. But when the birthday cake came into play, I immediately thought of just subbing in the peanut butter. As for the other issue of the flour, I had an even quicker fix that came to mind. Meals! Ground nuts are perfect for this, they go well with other nuts or chocolate, and it loses the gluten content whilst adding great flavor. This also means over mixing isn’t a problem since there is no gluten involved, not to mention this recipe won’t be baked anyway haha. At the same time I fondly remembered the time a friend at work made her own reeses peanut butter cups and shared it at work. They lasted less than ten minutes when I finished work and was walking to the station less than 15 minutes away. It was THAT GOOD. Of course, when I went to try the real thing, it was no disappointment either. So I knew I would toss this into the recipe too, somehow.

There’s always the final touch, when you start building the cake idea in your mind, and yet feel something is just a touch too empty. It’s like a cup of espresso, you have the punchy acidity, the sweet, juicy mouth feel, a vague hint of saltiness…but just that bitterness to counter the rest missing. It’s all about finding that very last missing link to your moment of “AHA! THAT’S IT!”.

My eureka moment came when I was still scratching my head trying to work things out and casually saw the how to make biscuit butter video, again also by popsugargirl. I had never heard of such thing, and of course was itching to try it. It seemed very indulgent but would offer great texture, and using chocolate as base flavour i imagined the cocoa content would offset the sweetness from the peanut butter cookie dough. So eventually I finally came to the perfect ratio for the cake.

I was very happy with the end look of the cake, the reeses made it to the cake, without being inside it and overriding the other flavors or components, acting like a little treat that comes with the cake. The layers work well together and the presentation is smooth and so clean, but so easy to get to that point compared to any other birthday cake I have made so far – probably the fastest even. And the flecks and texture of the cake just looks and smells incredible 🙂 I love the rustic looking finish to this cake and I hope the girl will like it too.

I suppose what I really enjoyed about this cake was mainly the speediness of it without feeling like I was cheating on quality and hard work, and the other was how different of an approach I had to take to decorate and finish off this cake due to the very different components. And of course as always, the fact how everything came together so smoothly despite being the first time making the idea.

So there you go, I hope you guys make this and fatten you and all ya friends up for this festive season made to indulge 😀 Try it and let me know what you like and would do different next time.

Question of the day: Have you ever heard of the biscuit butter? What is the origin of it? Comment down below and let me know!

= WHITE SOUFFLE CHEESECAKE INGREDIENTS =

120g WHITE CHOCOLATE

120g MASCARPONE CHEESE

3 EGGS, Separated

METHOD:

1: Preheat oven to 17 degrees Celsius. Spray a 9 inch round pan with a non-stick vegetable oil spray and line base and sides with baking paper.

2: Separate the egg yolk and white whilst cold.

3: Cling wrap the egg whites in a clean metal or glass bowl and place in the fridge until needed. Bring the yolks to room temperature.

4: Chop the white chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwaveable bowl (you can also do it over a bain marie/double boiler). Heat on 10 second intervals, stirring in between just until almost all the chocolate has been melted. The residue heat will continue to melt it as you stir.

5: Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until evenly combined.

6: Add the egg yolks at once, and whisk until combined.

7: Using a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff peak (The whites will just start to form little clumps of clouds, but still be moist. For this recipe you want to whip the whites a bit further than usual as it has no sugar to stabilize it.)

8: Add 1/3 of meringue to cheese mix and whisk until combined to lighten the mix.

9 Add the remaining meringue in halves, folding gently with whisk or spatula just until incorporated.

10: Gently pour the batter into the pan from a close height, and smooth out with a palette knife. Place on a tray and set into oven, then pour hot water until half the height of the pan.

11: Bake for 15 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius, then drop to 160 degrees for another 15 minutes. Finally, close the heat and leave the cake in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove pan from hot water and let it cool on a wire rack.

12: Once at room temperature, wrap in cling wrap and chill in freezer until firm.

13: Use a knife or palette knife to run around edge of pan to loosen the cake before inverting it onto the serving plate or board.

= TOPPING: PEANUT BUTTER CHOC SPRINKLE COOKIE DOUGH =

226g UNSALTED BUTTER, room temperature

2 TEASPOON SALT

110g CASTER SUGAR

155g BROWN SUGAR

60g SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER

250g HAZELNUT MEAL

90g CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES

METHOD:

1: With a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy, add the sugars and whisk until light, fluffy and pale – around 5-8 minutes.

2: Sprinkle the salt, add the smooth peanut butter and whisk until evenly combined.

3: Add the hazelnut meal, chocolate sprinkles and fold until evenly combined. Set aside for assembling the cake.

= FILLING: CHOCOLATE BISCUIT BUTTER =

20 ARNOTTS CHOCOLATE RIPPLE COOKIES (if you can’t find it, use any darker chocolatey, shortbread-ish biscuits without cream or glaze.)

2 TBSP BROWN SUGAR

60ML THICKENED CREAM

PEANUT BUTTER REESES, 5 quartered, and one whole, all placed in fridge to chill.

METHOD:

1: In a processor, add the chocolate cookies, sugar and blend until fine breadcrumb consistency. Add the thickened cream and blend whilst stopping in between to stir. Once evenly blended place the biscuit butter in a bowl and set aside to wait for the cake to cool for assembling.

= ASSEMBLAGE =

1: The soufflé cheesecake must be chilled till it is firmer to handle for the assemblage of filling and topping, as it is really soft.

2: Taking chunks of the biscuit butter, flatten and shape and place over the top of the cake. Repeat until you have roughly an even layer covering the top surface of the cake.

3: For the cookie dough, using a palette knife, carefully work along the sides of the cake bit by bit, spreading to smooth it out. Repeat the process for the top of the cake, keeping the layers as even thickness as possible.

4: Clean off the palette knife, and gently smooth the surfaces of the cake for a neat finish. You may need to scrape the palette knife a couple of times in between smoothing.

5: Evenly place the wedges of Reeses around the cake and then crush the remaining pieces in cling wrap and place in the pile in the center of the cake.

6: Situate the whole reeses cup on top of the pile and firmly press it down to adhere it.

7: Store in airtight container or cling wrap the cake and keep chilled. Bring out early to take some chill off the cake before serving as the cheesecake firms up a fair bit in the fridge.