Peanut-Butter Moose Pie
This past weekend it was one of my roommate's birthdays. Like every birthday, a cake is required. So far (although not documented on this blog), I have made birthday cakes for two other people, this one being my third. This particular birthday girl has a strong love for peanut-butter and chocolate, so it was fitting to find this delicious pair of flavors in cake form.
Although this "cake," was technically a "moose pie," as I have coined it, it was absolutely delicious. While searching for recipes, all of the peanut-butter-chocolate cake variations seemed too rich and dense. When I stumbled upon the idea of making a moose, something I have never done, I considered it both a challenge and a great idea to avoid making a dessert that would be too dense.
I realized as baking this delicious creation, that I was laking quite a few ingredients for the moose part (such as buttermilk, cream, peanut-butter chips...), but my baking instincts kicked into gear and with the help of google, and my intuition, this moose turned out wonderful.
The moose is light and fluffy, the chocolate layer a tad dense and helps contrast textures, and the bottom is a thin graham cracker crust, which frankly no one can resist. Rather than writing out what I did differently after the recipe (which is what I usually do), the recipe below is my adapted version. I made so many changes that if you want to find out what was the original just check out the source's link. Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Moose Pie
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Yield: 8-10 Servings
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
Nonstick Vegetable Oil
7 Graham Crackers Crushed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
For the Chocolate Layer:
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 8 ounces)
2/3 cups chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Peanut Butter Moose:
1 and1/3 cup chilled whipping cream, divided
1/4 stick of butter and 1/4 cup of milk, combined and melted together
3 tablespoons white chocolate chips
6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Make the Crust:
1. Spray a 9 inch pie pan, or cake pan with non-stick spray.
2. Blend graham crackers, melted butter and 2 tablespoons sugar together, until forms lumps.
3. Press crumb mixture along bottom and up sides of pan.
4. Bake crust for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Make the Chocolate Layer:
1. Combine chocolate-chips, 2/3 cup cream, corn syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave on medium heat until chocolate softens, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir until melted and smooth.
4. Spread chocolate over crust.
5. Freeze for 10 minutes, or refrigerate for 15-20 minutes (our freezer is packed).
Make the Peanut Butter Moose:
1. Microwave 1/4 butter and 1/4 milk together, until completely melted.
2. Microwave 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips, 4 tablespoon peanut-butter, 1/3 cream, and homemade buttermilk mixture, microwave at 15 second intervals until everything is just combined.
3. Cool to barely lukewarm.
4. In separate bowl, beat 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until very thick, but not yet holding peaks; fold into peanut butter mixture in 3 additions.
5. Spread moose over chocolate layer.
6. Chill for at least 1 hour.
I recommend eating this within the first day or two it is made! Enjoy
Source: Bon Appetit
