Recipes

Sometimes what starts as an experiment, turns out to be the best thing ever. That’s what happened with this cake! It might seriously be the best thing that’s come out of my kitchen. In my opinion, at least. And my sister’s. I made this for Minni’s birthday this year :) Like me, one of her favorite food combos is chocolate + peanut butter. I knew I wanted to incorporate those flavors but also make something light and airy. I dreamed up this cake based on those two requirements. It starts with an Oreo cookie crust. Then comes a layer of peanut butter mousse, followed by milk chocolate mousse. It’s topped with a dark chocolate ganache and a peanut butter sauce. It’s like a little piece of heaven. Try this recipe. Seriously.

makes one 9 inch round cake

Ingredients

Crust
1 package chocolate cream cookies (I used chocolate cream filled Oreos)
3 Tbs Butter, melted

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not the natural kind that needs stirring
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Milk Chocolate Mousse
5 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Ganache
5 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate chips)
1 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Peanut Butter Sauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbs powdered sugar
2 Tbs heavy whipping cream

Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.

Blend cookies in food processor to a fine crumb. Pour in melted butter and blend until well mixed.

Pack the crumb mixture into the spring form pan. You can use a bowl or the bottom of a glass to make sure the crumbs are tightly packed.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool.

Peanut Butter Mouse:
In a bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla.

In another bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Take about 1/2 a cup of the whipping cream and fold into the peanut butter mixture. Keep adding whipping cream until the peanut butter mixture comes to a ‘pouring’ consistency.

Pour the peanut butter mixture into the remaining heavy whipping cream and continue whipping until semi-stiff peaks form.

Pour the peanut butter mousse into the spring form pan with the oreo crust. Refrigerate.

Milk Chocolate Mousse:
Bring 1/2 cup of the heavy whipping cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.

Remove saucepan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract.

Let the chocolate mixture come to room temperature.

In the meantime- In a large bowl, whip up the remaining heavy whipping cream to soft peaks.

Fold in the cooled chocolate mixture.

Pour the mousse on top of the peanut butter mousse in the spring form pan. Let the mousse harden in the fridge for a couple hours.

Dark Chocolate Ganache:
Put the chopped dark chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour in the cream.

Microwave in 20 second increments until the chocolate melts.

Stir the mixture with a fork, until the chocolate is evenly incorporated into the cream, forming a thick chocolate sauce.

Let the mixture come to room temperature.

Remove the spring form pan from the refrigerator. Run a warm knife around the edges of the pan, rinsing every little while to keep it clean.

Pour the ganache over the milk chocolate mousse.

Peanut Butter Sauce:
In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the powdered sugar and the peanut butter.

Whisk in the cream (using more or less to get to the consistency you like).

Pour the sauce into a small ziploc bag, cut off a corner (or a decorating bag with a tiny tip), and pipe across the top of the cake.

Notes

• Your chocolate mousse can only be as good as the quality of chocolate you use.
• You can make the crust/mousses 1 day before you need the cake, then just finish it off with the ganache and peanut butter sauce right before you need it.
• This looks like a long, drawn-out recipe, but it goes pretty quick!