TWD: Peanut Butter Torte - and Bars

Since I am writing this after midnight when everyone else is asleep (as I should be) I'm going to keep all my craziness to a bare minimum (ok, minimum for me). So, if you haven't heard about Tuesdays with Dorie yet, then check it out in much better detail than I can provide here. This week's challenge was for Dorie's Peanut Butter Torte and was chosen by Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food. I actually made the Torte on Sunday afternoon, but didn't get to cut into it until Monday afternoon. It was very, very yummy. I really enjoyed it. It was also very rich. This was a great dessert to make and if someone loves PB+Chocolate. If they do, then this is a definate winner. Me? I'm more of a chocolate purist (ok, fine, just a flat out chocoholic), so while I enjoyed this thoroughly, unless I'm making it for someone else I don't know that I would get around to making the Torte again... as a Torte anyway. Muawhahaha!

This brings me to my craziness. I knew I couldn't eat this entire Torte and had no one I could take it to, so I decided to cut the recipe in half and make it in a 4.5-inch Springform pan - afterall 4.5 is half of 9 - right? Hmmm, apparently not for the filling. While the crust ingredients halved perfectly for the pan size, I ended up with about 1 1/2 cups of mousse left over. I could have spooned it into glasses and made it look pretty, but at the time I was finishing this up the Baby Cole had had it with Mama being in the kitchen and demanded (fairly loudly) my undivided attention. In other words, it was all I could to to throw the remaining mousse into a bowl and slap some plastic wrap over it. Of course I didn't have the heart to just discard it, but I couldn't decide what to do with it since it wasn't going to be so "spooning into glasses" pretty by the time I could return to it.

I was able to return finally, this afternoon and I still wasn't sure what to do. Then, I remembered some wild-hair I had last week. You see I made manicotti and was feeling rather "green" and thinking about recycling and as I took the noodles out of the box I was looking at the cool little trays they came in and, I decided to keep them. Just in case I could use it for something later on... as a marshmallow mold was actually what I was thinking of at the time.

Anyway, as I was cleaning out the 'fridge this afternoon there was the bowl of unused mousse, staring at me and making me wonder again what I was going to do with it. Then, it hit me. I remembered the molds and thought, "why not make candy bars out of the leftovers." So, that is what I did. I've added the directions for how I did it at the end of Dorie's original recipe.

While this dessert isn't necessarily something I will make again in full size, I think I may invest in a real mold for future use, because making these and then freezing these bad boys as sneaky little "ice cream bar" treats was, basically, genius if I do say so myself. And, I do (say so myself that is... yeah, it's late, I'm feeling a little schitzo, but sleep depravation will do that to you!).

So, my lovelies, I'm off to bed and leave you with all this deliciousness. Make sure to check out all the other TWDer's and see what else this simply fantastic group has been up to this week. Oh, and seriously, if you still don't have this book, go and get it. Now. Seriously, we'll wait. ; )

Peanut Butter Torte
1 ¼ c. finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch and topping)
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee) (I omitted this)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ c. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate) (I used bittersweet here)
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2 ½ c. heavy cream
1 ¼ c confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ c salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural; I use Skippy) (I used Creamy Jif)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped

Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. (I actually used a 4.5-inch Springform pan).

Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Crape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.

Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.

To Finish The Torte:
Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan.

Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and, working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.

Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.

When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the “bars”:
I melted more bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler and stirred until smooth (about 4 oz, it will depend on how much filling you have left over if you do the halved mini pan like I did – I had enough mousse to fill probably about 8 bars - approximately 1 1/2 cups of mousse). Allow the chocolate to cool until it is just warm, but not hot. Pour into the molds and allow to sit for about 10-15 seconds, then pour the chocolate out of the mold and back into the bowl. Place the mold into the refrigerator and allow the chocolate to harder (at least 15 minutes).

Remove from refrigerator and pipe the mousse into the mold on top of the chocolate. At this point I topped the mousse with finely crumbled Oreo cookies and gently pressed that into the mousse. Place this back into the refrigerator while you remelt the remaining chocolate. Once the chocolate has cooled to warm (not hot) again, pour it over the bars and smooth off the excess or spread to cover the bottom of each bar (depending on what you are using for the mold).

Again, whether it was just cheap of me or ingenious is yet to be decided (or a little of both) but since I don’t have molds I actually used the cleaned out trays from a box of manicotti noodles that I decided to save last week for some kind of future use. The extra mousse I ended up with from halving the recipe gave me that opportunity. Make sure to keep the bars chilled until ready to serve, the chocolate melted very easily. I imagine that you could make it more meltable or friendly to work with by making it more “candy-like” as in the Cheesecake Pop recipe from April’s DB Challenge, but I didn’t really think of that until my little brainstorm project was already underway.

Oh, and the next time I try this, I kind of want to try a Cashew / Cashew Butter version with some Dulce de Leche mixed in. I think that would rock!

Other Tuesdays with Dorie:
Fluted Polenta & Ricotta Cake
Bill's Big Carrot Cake
Marshmallows - Dark & White Chocolate