It was the second day into a much appreciated 4 days off from work over the New Year holiday. And you know me, I can’t not bake. A few of my friends have birthdays right around now, so I decided to bake them a cake in my bevy of time. Well, if I must admit, it was really procrastination for what was supposed to be the main goal of cleaning and organizing my apartment. Needless to say, I never quite got around to it.
Tucked in the back of my mind, I remembered that the November 2007 issue of
Food + Wine magazine featured an enthusiastic
article about
Gramercy Tavern’s Pastry Chef Nancy Olson and her family-inspired recipes. An admitted
peanut butter junkie (it’s the one food that I simply cannot be trusted around), I have anxiously anticipated trying her
Crunchy Milk Chocolate Peanut Cake ever since a former co-worker raved about it months ago. As my friends are almost as addicted to peanut butter as me, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity. However, never one to religiously follow instructions, when I finally got around to baking the cake, I was instead inspired to create my own interpretation of her masterpiece.
The Cake
Nancy Olson’s
recipe begins with a dark chocolate cake. While in the photo it does look absolutely moist and luscious, I opted to substitute it with a deliciously soft, moist milk chocolate biscuit that accompanies the Chocolate Peanut dessert at
my work. The cake, with a lovely somewhat light brown color somewhat akin to a light amber beer, is an airy sponge cake made from whipped eggs, flour, sugar, and the requisite milk chocolate. Though we use the most amiable
Valrhona Jivara, I can’t spend copious amounts of money for an experimental cake, so I chose
Ghirardelli as a suitable surrogate. Of course, whenever I make this cake I can’t help but put a little fevre of the chocolate in my mouth. Instantly, I am aware of its rich creaminess, its extremely luscious smooth feel. The Ghirardelli, while still quite tasty, leaves a little bit of a gritty feel on my tongue, however, which I suspect comes from the typically high proportion of milk solids in comparison to cocoa butter.
Dark Chocolate, Peanut and Caramel Tart, Milk Chocolate Biscuit, Meyer Lemon Purée, Peanut Powder, Praline-Citrus Sorbet
Anyhow, overall the cake turned out great, and a fabulous base for the rest of the components.
The Crunchy Layer
The utmost interior layer of Nancy’s cake boasts of “an extraordinarily crunchy filling, made with almonds, salted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, chocolate and Rice Krispies.” What that equates to is basically a light, crispy dacquoise. However, I chose to make a simpler middle layer but still with all the flavor and adored crunch. The Rice Krispies in this add a nice crunch to the overall smooth and creamy cake. I also wanted a darker chocolate for this layer, so I used 66% chocolate for a little contrast from the milk chocolate cake and ganache.
90g Bittersweet Chocolate (66%)
150g Peanut Butter (you can use creamy or crunchy)
50g Caramelized Peanuts* (or you can just use regular peanuts)
100g Rice Krispies
Salt
Spray a flat baking sheet with non-stick baking spray and line with a sheet of parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate and the peanut butter together in either the microwave or a double-boiler until smooth and well combined. Add the peanuts, Rice Krispies and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour the mix onto the prepared baking sheet and spread flat using a large offset spatula. The mixture really needs to be worked with the spatula to ensure a flat, even layer that won’t break when cut. Set in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes. Remove and cut two circles using an 8 inch cake ring. Place the two disks back into the refrigerator until ready to assemble the cake.
Hint: The extras make a perfect snack while baking!
*see below for Caramelized Peanuts recipe
The Peanut Butter Mousse Filling
I tried to find a peanut butter mousse recipe, but there really aren’t any publicized except for the typical cream cheese/peanut butter “mousse-type” thing. As I did not think this cake would benefit from a cream cheese filling and I desired a lighter, airy-er and more sublime texture for my filling, I set to create my own peanut butter mousse.
I wanted to retain as much of the unadulterated peanut butter flavor in my mousse, I figured I would attempt to combine peanut butter with a slightly sweet pate a bombe and whipped cream. Knowing that pate a bombe, an egg yolk based foam that has been beaten with a sugar syrup (cooked to 238 °F) and whipped til cool, is often used as a base for various mousses and buttercreams, I figured it would make a good starting point for this project…and it worked. I’m sure I’ll be revisiting and revising this mousse in the near future, but for now I am quite satisfied. Slightly sweet and subtly salty, this mousse has a strong peanut butter flavor that perfectly marries with the milk chocolate elements of this cake. It is utterly delicious, and I had to stop myself from eating it with a spoon.
1 ½ cups (12 oz) heavy cream
8 ounces peanut butter
a scant ½ cup of sugar (95 grams)
water to cover
6 yolks (125 grams)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon gelatin, soaked in 2 tablespoons cold water
Beat the cream to medium soft peaks; place in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the mousse. Place the peanut butter and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a Kitchenaid mixer, beat the yolks to the ribbon stage (they will be thick and pale in color and fall in a heavy "ribbon" when you lift the beaters), about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the water and sugar to a boil and cook to softball stage (238 °F). Add the soaked gelatin to dissolve. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the beating egg yolks. Beat on high speed until the mixture is cool and doubled in volume, about 7 minutes. Lighten the peanut butter with the cooled pate a bombe, and then fold in the rest in three additions. Add the whipped cream in another three addtions and voila, you have mousse. Place in a piping bag until ready to assemle the cake.
*This is best made when you are completely ready to assemble the cake.
Milk Chocolate Ganache Glaze
I stuck with Nancy’s basic ganache recipe but added a smidgen of corn syrup for a little extra sheen and smoothness and added a little gelatin to make it more of a glaze rather than a spread. Silky smooth and utterly divine, this was the perfect finish for the cake.
1 ¼ pounds of milk chocolate (565 grams)
1 ¾ cups heavy cream (400 grams)
1 T light corn syrup
a pinch of salt for good measure
1 teaspoon gelatin soaked in 2 tablespoons water– added to stabilize the ganache glaze and minimize the glaze from sliding down the cake
Place the chocolate in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream, corn syrup and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat until you see tiny bubbles. Remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the cream over the chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, mix gently until smooth. Add the rest of the cream in two more additions in the same procedure (this is just a little technique I learned from my Chef. Using a spatula rather than a whisk to emulsify the ganache will minimize the amount of air that makes its way into your ganache to create tiny air bubbles, and thus ensures a smoother ganache.) Once smooth, refrigerate for 1 hour, mixing occasionally, until thick enough to spread, but thin enough to pour as a glaze.
Caramelized Peanut Garnish
We use these awesome itty bitty caramelized hazelnuts that we use for subtle garnishing at work. Although I know that toasted peanuts don’t have quite the same appeal as toasted hazelnuts, I wanted to see if I could make my own using peanuts to garnish the cake. I started with finely ground peanuts and caramelized them using the dragee method. Since I didn’t want them to get too caramelized and take on a slightly off, bitter flavor (unlike other nuts, you don’t really want to toast peanuts), I pulled them off the heat a little sooner than I would have for other nuts.
And what do you know…I love it!
The recipe I used came from work; however, here are approximate standard measurements, adapted from Jacques Torres’ Dessert Circus: Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make Everyday
Caramelized Nuts
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 ¾ cups peanuts
1 ½ tablespoons butter
Place the granulated sugar and water in a large copper pot or 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the nuts and stir to coat them evenly in the sugar syrup. Your goal is to cook the nuts until the sugar crystallizes and caramelizes - when water is added, the sugar crystals dissolve. As the syrup boils, it becomes thicker as the water evaporates and big soap-like bubbles begin to form. Soon, all the moisture evaporates and the mixture becomes sandy. The sandiness is the sugar recrystallizing. It only takes the reformation of one sugar crystal to recrystallize the others. Keep stirring! Next, you will see the sugar close to the heat change from sandy to a clear liquid. The melted sugar clings to the nuts. When the sugar changes from clear to golden brown, the nuts are caramelized. Once this happens, pay close attention; the time it takes to pass from caramelized to burn is only a matter of seconds, especially when making smaller batches. You know the nuts are finished when most of the sandy sugar is gone. The first few times you make these, I suggest you try the following: When the sugar closest to the heat changes from sandy to liquid, remove the pan from the burner and continue to stir. The residual heat in the sugar and nuts will continue to cook the mixture while you stir it. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to stir the nuts while moving the saucepan on and off the heat at 10-second intervals. This will give you more control as it cooks. When the nuts begin to caramelize, remove them from the heat and finish stirring. Use a wooden spoon to spread the caramelized nuts onto a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Do not touch the nuts as they are extremely hot. Let the nuts cool completely. If your freezer will accommodate the baking sheet, you can place the nuts in the freezer for about 30 minutes to speed up the cooling process. When the nuts are completely cooled, break apart any clusters that may have formed. At this stage, you can choose to serve the nuts as they are.
To Assemble the Cake
Using an 8 inch cake ring, cut three circles out of the sponge cake. Place one layer of sponge cake in the cake mold and on a cake cardboard. Pipe a thin layer of mousse on top the cake. Top the mousse with 1 crunchy disk. Pipe another layer of mousse on top of the crunchy disk and then top with the other layer of sponge cake. Repeat with a layer of mousse, crunchy disk, mousse and cake. Finally, add more mousse to reach the top edge of the cake mold (this just ensures an even top of the cake). Smooth using an offset spatula. Place the cake in the freezer to firm for at least 3 hours.
Using either a kitchen torch or a hot dishtowel, unmold the cake and place on a cookie rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch any excess glaze. Pour the ganache glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down and fully coat the sides. If desired, lightly torch the top of the cake to remove any bubbles with the torch, and then return to the freezer for about 5 minutes to set the glaze. Spread the caramelized peanuts around the border of the cake (your hands are your best tool in this step). Whip the remaining ganache and pipe a decorate border along the top edge, if desired. I just did super simple rossettes and topped each with a peanut half. I confess, because after all that work, I got lazy.
The Verdict My friends devoured every last crumb. Who needs a greater ego-boost than that? It’s not such a humble cake, boasting of its plentitude of peanuts and chocolate. But it’s lofty elegance, yet endearing childlike simplicity makes for a rich and immensly satisfying mouthful perfect for any occassion.
With roasted peanuts and sweet chocolate permeating and scenting my apartment with its sweet fragrances, I was in escasty those past few days. That is not to say that errors have not been made or I will not be attempting to improve upon this cake in the near future. But for now, I am deeply satisfied.
Because everything is better with peanut butter.
Pass the fork, please.
NOTE: I know the ratio isn’t correct for my gelatin additions since gelatin absorbs about 5 times its weight in water, but I didn’t want the mousse or ganache to be diluted with water, so I used a lot less than is usually called for.
Please excuse my crappy photos, again. My camera is still under the weather. :(
