Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie (that's not really a pie)

This week I've really had the urge to just bake something, something proper, that I could eat! As much as I love my cake orders...I never get to eat them - so I really wanted to make something I could have some of. I seem to have so many cookbooks at the moment I've not really been able to try much from so I thought this was a great opportunity to dig out Cake Days (The Hummingbird Baker), I absolutely love this book so it wasn't hard to find something.....peanut butter and chocolate pie! I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter, but as it's combined with chocolate I was thinking...Snickers!

Though it's called a pie, mine definitely wasn't, I wasn't too sure about making the cookie base into a pie crust as such, so kept it more like a cheesecake base so you can see the layers, I also didn't trust it to keep it's shape enough to dish up.

I will also say that I did change the recipe (not on purpose!), I got carried away and made the middle peanut chocolate filling in one big mix, which means I didn't add cream to the left over peanut filling (as there wasn't any), so just made the cream for the topping. It's also worth saying that adding icing sugar to the cream for whipping is a revolution. I'm actually not a huge fan of cream on its own but like this...I could eat it by the spoonful! But actually I think this all worked better - I always seem to do this and it always turns out better in the end so I'm going to mark this as a win.


Ingredients:

Base:
250g double chocolate cookies
175g butter, melted

Filling:
3 tbsp cornflour
160g caster sugar
550ml whole milk
3 large eggs
180g crunchy peanut butter
80g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids, chopped
250ml double cream

Topping:
250ml double cream
50g icing sugar
50 unsalted roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

One 9inch springform tin

Method:
1. First line the cake tin with baking paper, then blitz the cookies to a rough crumb in a food processor (or bash them in a bag with a rolling pin like me). Pour in the melted butter and blitz again. When both ingredients have come together in a rough paste, remove from the machine and tip into the lined tin.

2. Using the back of a spoon, press the crumb mixture evenly over the base and sides (or just the base like me), to a thickness of about 5mm, the place in the fridge to cool and set for about 40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix the cornflour with the sugar in a saucepan, then mix together the milk and egg yolks and pour this into the pan. Place over a low heat and cook until thickened, whisking continuously, then remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter.
4. Place the chocolate in a bowl and pour over about the third of the hot peanut butter filling (or all of it like me!). Mix well until the chocolate has melted and the filling is smooth and even. Pour the chocolate filling into the chilled cookie base, then cover the pie with cling film to stop a skin from forming, and place back into the fridge for about 30-40 minutes to allow the filling to set. Cover the remaining peanut filling with cling film and set aside to cool.

 

5. In another bowl, whip the cream, either by hand or using a hand-held electric whisk, until it is thick and forms soft peaks. Once the remaining peanut-butter filling has completely cooled, fold in the whipped cream, ensuring it is mixed in well. Remove the pie from the fridge and top with the second part of the filling then place back into the fridge for 40-50 minutes.
6. Next make the topping. Whip the cream and the icing sugar until the cream forms soft peaks, then spoon on top of the set pie filling and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts to finish, I also added some extra bits of finely grated dark chocolate.

So in the end I'm quite happy I messed up, I think there would have been a lot of layers otherwise, has anyone made it? I am however a bit gutted, I got a bit carried away when mixing the filling and splattered the peanut filling over one of my new tops - must remember to not wear new light coloured tops when baking!! So looking for some good stain removal tips. Considering I have a ridiculous amount of aprons I should have been wearing one!

But having a big slab of this dessert cheered me up, calorie bomb it may be...but who ever made a dessert worrying about calories, odd indulgences are good for the soul. I feel so tired this week so a big sugar kick is just what I needed I think :)

Nom! x



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