Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter Cups

I am still on the fence when it comes to using a play-on-words to name a dessert. Sometimes a catchy name fits so well that I cannot resist. This dessert came about when a birthday cake for my sister Rebecca took a turn for the worse in the hot and sticky August heat in Boston. I abstain from making cakes that are merely sweetened bread products with a dab of cream in between each layer. I was introduced to the school of cake as the base with a flurry of flavorful layers making up said cake about a year ago, and I haven’t looked back. I will say that this method of birthday cake making can be tricky when it is 95 degrees outside and you are driving around Boston with a not so efficient air conditioner. Thinking on my feet I decided to portion the cake up into rocks glasses rather than have a sliding sticky disaster descend on the birthday party. My sister’s favorite things are chocolate, peanut butter, caramel and bananas so the flavors that I decided to incorporate into the dessert were an easy choice. As of late I have been enjoying a lot of desserts that are easily described as candy bars and the like on “crack.” From Cadbury Cream Eggs, Crunch Bars, Snickers and Peanut Butter Cups, these sweet concoctions weigh heavier on the delicious while the kitch-y connotations are long forgotten. I will admit that this dessert tastes a lot like a Snickers bar, but at the end of the day it is a peanut dessert in-a-cup.

Financier is traditionally a brown butter and almond cake. This American version substitutes peanuts for almond meal with the addition of cocoa powder to make it chocolate.

The condensed milk and honey caramel is a stovetop dulce de leche cream. I recommend making extra caramel and storing it in the fridge as a go to ice cream topper. I caught my brother’s room-mate going at the caramel with a spoon with a look of bliss on his face. Job well done?...I think so.

When using milk chocolate in desserts, I try to add an element of bittersweet chocolate to balance out the milk and avoid a lack of depth in the dish.

For the financier:

125 grams Peanuts, toasted
125 grams powdered sugar
120 grams Egg Whites, room temperature
70 grams Butter
20 grams all purpoes flour
20 grams cocoa powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt



For the condensed milk caramel:

10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
4 ounces heavy cream
4 ounces honey
4 ounces granulated sugar
20 grams butter
salt
vanilla


For the peanut and milk chocolate ganache:

8 ounces heavy cream
8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
2 ounces creamy peanut butter
salt


For the bittersweet chocolate frozen custard:
8 ounces 64% chocolate
8 ounces heavy cream
salt
2 ounces heavy cream, whipped


For the candied peanuts:
100 grams sugar
100 grams peanuts, toasted.

2 ripe yet firm bananas