“I MUST have Chocolate and Peanut Butter!” Tart (Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Honey Caramel Tart)

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Lisa

I uttered the above sentence in quotes at least 15 times a few nights ago. It went on from 10pm until 1am, and I couldn’t sleep because I had to have it. My SO suggested grabbing a jar of peanut butter and spreading it over some of my baking/pastry chocolate. NO, that would NOT suffice.

SO – Why not pick up some Reese’s peanut butter cups tomorrow?
Me – No, I can’t wait until tomorrow, and I need more than that.
SO – You can get the white, milk AND dark chocolate ones. (white chocolate peanut butter cups are my absolute fave! Ever hear of that white chocolate peanut butter with pretzels? OMG, must make soon!)
Me – NO, I need something more…NOW.
SO – You’re going to bake something, aren’t you?
Me – *meekly* Maybe.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Honey Caramel Tart. OMG, SO AMAZING! #peanutbuttercarameltart #pie #tart #whitechocolate #darkchocolate #honeycaramel #peanutbuttertart #caramelpie #saltedpeanuts #snurtletart

I was craving something extraordinary; layers of peanut butter, chocolate, maybe some caramel, a nice pate brisee..or maybe a bar cookie..or..

SO – Yep, you’re going to bake something now, at 1 am.

I got up and headed to the kitchen to see what I had on hand to create something that would satisfy my crazy 1 am craving.

OK, for all you fellow women out there, I bet you can guess what time of the month it was. I don’t think I need to elaborate much more than that. This was going to be MINE ALL MINE. NO sharing. I was going to eat every last crumb of whatever I came up with! So I’ll gain about 10 lbs and clog an artery or three, no big whoop! This was something that (at this very brief juncture) came before anything and everything.

SO- *yelling out* Well, at least save some for me!
Me – *insert thought cloud here* Yeah right, in your dreams!!*
SO- Hello?

My first thought was a recipe I saved on the Godiva site several years ago. It was a peanut butter and chocolate tart with a layer of pecans in a honey caramel on the bottom. Alright, love the honey caramel, but pecans with my peanut butter and chocolate? No. It had to be peanuts. I perused my fridge and cabinets, throwing ingredients on the counter as if it were doomsday and I had to gather as much food as I could in a limited amount of time. I was on a mission, and I was going to be eating this within less than 2 hours..period.

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart

Once I gathered all the ingredients I needed, my kitchen looked like three aisles in the supermarket. Well, it was going to look worse than that in very a short amount of time. I know I’m going to regret this later, but damn, did I care at this point? A resounding NO echoed through my brain..

Using the Godiva recipe as a base, since I can rarely leave a recipe as is unless it’s by a few select chefs that nail it every.single.time, I tied my hair up, topped it off with a *sniff* tragic Yankee cap (will be explained in an impending entry I keep putting off, but it’s inevitable), threw on an old chef jacket a chef friend gave me, and went to work.

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart

I used my own pate brisee recipe, ditched the pecans for peanuts, salted ones at that (as if I had a choice, that’s all I had), and not one, but TWO chocolate ganache toppings. I couldn’t decide between milk, semisweet and bittersweet, but white chocolate was a definite. Since white chocolate is so sweet (and isn’t really chocolate, I know, I know), milk chocolate might be too much in conjunction with it, so bittersweet would probably be the best option. However, peanut butter and bittersweet chocolate? I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it’s a match made in palate heaven. OK, semisweet was probably the way to go, but milk chocolate kept pulling at my Yankee cap.

I had Reese’s PB cups in mind, and although they do make a dark chocolate peanut butter cup, I definitely prefer the milk chocolate by a mile or 20. Then again, my SO loooves dark chocolate – WAIT *wiping thought from head as if it was an ink stain on cashmere*, this is MY TART! He can’t have any, nor can anyone else! Hrmmph!

The only caveat was that my honey was crystallized, so I had to break out of my ‘moment’, which was jarring, and look up how to fix crystallized honey (just warm the bottle in some hot water or nuke it for a few secs). OK..I’m good now.

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart
Having said all that, this is MY peanut butter and chocolate craving (with caramel), with a little help from Godiva. Excuse the photos, as in my obsessed state, setting up any kind of pretty background was way too much of a distraction and would have taken time away from my gorge. Heck, even focusing the camera and futzing with the settings was too much!

All in all, the best way to describe this heavenly pie is as a peanut butter peanut turtle or snickerslicious pie. The nut laden caramel layer is super soft and delicious! BUT, you don’t have to add the peanuts to the caramel, because a plain caramel layer is just as amazing and so so smooooth.

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart

I froze the leftover tart for about an hour just to get a perfect slice photo. Then I realized a perfect slice photo is gooey, shiny and melty. I’ll eventually get this food blog photo ‘thing’ right.

Since I couldn’t decide on a name, I decided to give it four names.

My Must Have Peanut Butter and Chocolate Tart

aka

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart

aka

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Honey Caramel Tart

aka

Peanut Butter Snurtle Tart (Snickers plus Turtle)

I finally decided on…

Save Print
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Honey Caramel Tart
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
 
Adapted from Godiva circa like 1990 something
ingredients:
Pate Brisee
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
  • 5 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Salted Peanut Caramel Layer*
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups chopped, salted dry roasted peanuts (optional since some prefer just the caramel) **
Peanut Butter Layer
  • 1½ cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Ganache topping #1
  • 9 ounces bittersweet, milk or semisweet chocolate (your preference), coarsely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • ½ cup heavy cream
Ganache topping #2
  • 2½ ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
directions:
For the Pate Brisee
  1. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and pulse 3 or 4 times, until blended. Scatter the butter cubes over the flour mixture and pulse 10 to 15 times, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour 5 tablespoons of the ice water over the flour mixture and pulse about 15 times, or until the dough just starts to pull away from the side of the bowl. If the dough is still dry, add the remaining ice water 1 teaspoon at a time, pulsing 2 or 3 times. Make sure the dough isn't uniform. You want it raggedy, with decent sized bits of butter visible in the dough. This can also be done by hand, but you have to work quick, so the butter doesn't soften or melt, or use a pastry cutter.
  2. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Scrape the dough onto the work surface and gently form into a round disk. Wrap well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate anywhere from 1 to 24 hours. (I didn't chill it at all, I rolled it out immediately and transferred it to the tart pan, crimping, then chilling for about ½ hour, but I had to have this before sunrise! That said, it came out flaky and wonderful, so no reason not to do it this way if you don't want to wait).
  3. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. again Remove dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and let sit for a few minutes. Roll the dough into a small round, lifting and rotating the dough a quarter turn after each roll. Dust underneath the dough with more flour if necessary, and continue rolling until the circle measures approximately 12 inches in diameter.
  4. Carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin and transfer it to a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom or a 10-inch springform pan. Unroll the dough into the pan without stretching it. Lift the edges of the dough and gently press the dough into the bottom and up the side of the pan. Using scissors or a small sharp knife, trim the overhanging edge of the pastry to about ½ inch. Fold the edge of the dough over and press and crimp to form a decorative rim that extends about ¼ inch above the top of the tart pan. IF using a springform pan, no need to fold over and crimp the dough since it will not extend over the top of the pan.
  5. Refrigerate the tart shell for 20 to 30 minutes, until firm.
  6. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Line the tart shell with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fill it with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake the tart shell for 5 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. and continue baking for 10 minutes. Using the aluminum foil overhang as handles, remove the foil and beans. Bake the tart shell for 8 to 10 minutes longer, until lightly golden in color. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack and let the tart shell cool completely.
For the Salted Peanut Caramel Layer *
  1. In a small heavy saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the honey and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil, without stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the peanuts until well coated with the mixture. Place the tart shell on a large baking sheet.
  2. Scrape the mixture into the pre-baked tart shell, spreading it as evenly as possible over the bottom of the pastry shell. Continue baking the tart in the preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly all over. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack and let the tart cool completely.
For the Peanut Butter Layer
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the wire whip attachment, or using electric beaters, beat the peanut butter with the confectioners' sugar at low speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating the mixture 3 to 4 minutes or until fluffy and light in color.
  2. With a spatula spread the peanut butter topping completely over the cooled caramel peanut layer.
For the Chocolate Ganache Topping
  1. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream and corn syrup to a gentle boil. Pour the hot cream/corn syrup over the chocolate. Allow the mixture to stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Gently whisk until smooth.
  2. Pour the chocolate over the tart and spread evenly with a spatula.
For the White Chocolate Ganache Drizzle
  1. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream to a gentle boil (OR, microwave it in a pyrex measuring cup, since it's such a small amount). Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Allow the mixture to stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Gently whisk until smooth.
  2. Drizzle the white chocolate all over the dark chocolate ganache, any way you want. Let set in the fridge for about an hour or more.
notes:
* The ingredient amounts for the caramel nut layer just about filled a whole 9-inch tart pan, leaving barely any room for the peanut butter filling and ganache toppings without serious overflow. This is why I changed the tart pan size to 10-inch, When I used the 9-inch, I removed almost half of the caramel and cooked it to the soft crack stage (290 F) to make awesome, chewy salted peanut caramel candy to top the tart. However, if you use a larger tart pan, 10 or 11-inch instead of 9-inch, OR a 9 or 10-inch springform pan, you shouldn't have this problem. If you do, you can always cut the salted peanut caramel recipe in half, OR, do what I did, and make some candy!
** Of course you can omit the salted peanuts in the caramel filling for just a simple, pure and gooey caramel base! Just as good!
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Obviously, I did not let it ‘set’ for longer than 15 minutes. My knife was chiseling out a sloppy slice faster than a pig to shh, umm mud. Hmm..the analogy definitely fits. ;P

White and Dark Chocolate Salted Peanut Caramel Peanut Butter Tart

In conclusion, after one large slice, which helped me sleep like a baby, and another the next night, I couldn’t eat another bite. I decided to be nice and share it after all.

THE END.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Honey Caramel Tart. OMG, SO AMAZING! #peanutbuttercarameltart #pie #tart #whitechocolate #darkchocolate #honeycaramel #peanutbuttertart #caramelpie #saltedpeanuts #snurtletart

 


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Daring Bakers – Beaux et delicieux eclairs (beautiful and delicious eclairs)

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Lisa

This is my first Daring Baker’s Challenge, and I must say, I’m very excited to participate in such a fun challenge with so many talented bakers and pastry chefs. Daring Bakers was created by Lis from La Mia Cucina and Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice back in 2006, and may I say, what an absolutely fantastic idea! Everyone is given the same recipe, and barring certain rules by the host(s), must bake it as written, adding your own take on it, depending on what the host(s) decide. The host(s) usually give you some leeway in that respect.

For a while now, I’ve been admiring the gorgeous and awe inspiring creations of many Daring Bakers, so I’m so honored to be a part of it. Any bakers out there who haven’t already, should definitely join up! Click on the photo below, and it will take you to the Daring Bakers site where you’ll find instructions on how to join in on the fun!

Now that I’ve waxed poetic about this awesome challenge, I was fully expecting my first challenge to be something along the lines of a 12-layer ice cream and cake Bombe with hand-pulled sugar faces and about 31 flavors of homemade ice cream. Although that sounds daunting, I was ready for it! Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be something I’m more than quite familiar with, and make on a somewhat consistent basis; the eclair! I’d like to thank this month’s hosts, Meetak and Tony Tahhan for choosing such a great eclair recipe from one of my favorite sugar kings, Pierre Hermes, taken from his book; simply titled, Chocolate Desserts. Buy this book if you’re a chocolate fiend!

Raspberry White Chocolate and Salted Butter Rum Banana Cream Eclairs

OK..I have to admit, I really, really like my old standby recipe for pate a choux. Not only does it produce the perfect eclair shell, but it doesn’t get soggy, even when kept in the fridge for a while. However, using Pierre’s recipe for choux paste was a must in this challenge, along with at least one chocolate component. When I saw there was milk (I prefer to use all water) and lots of eggs in his formula, and read how some ended up with sogginess, no puff, too eggy of a flavor, or shells that weren’t hollow, I knew I would have to take some extra care to insure that didn’t happen to mine.

By ‘extra care’, I mean increasing the baking time, making sure to let the steam out of the eclair by slitting each shell open a little for the last several minutes of baking, (which is a main cause of a soggy eclair shell, depending on the recipe), then letting them dry in a turned off oven for a bit. With my old standby recipe, I never have to do any of the above since they always come out perfect; no any extra steps needed. Pipe, pop in the oven, and voila, perfectly crisp, hollow, not too eggy, sunken or soggy, eclair shells.

I’m really not trying to pull a ‘my pate a choux is better’ deal here, as I couldn’t shine Pierre’s chouxs when it comes to pastry, but let’s just say I’m so used to and satisfied with my standby recipe, that I had to mention all of the above prior to talking about my entry.

Raspberry White Chocolate and Salted Butter Rum Banana Caramel Cream Eclairs

Your basic eclair contains 3 components – Pate a Choux aka Choux Paste aka Cream Puff Dough, for the shell, a pastry cream filling, and a chocolate glaze of some sort. In this challenge, Herme’s pate a choux and one chocolate component, whether it be the glaze or the pastry cream, had to be used. I decided to play around with the filling and use the glaze in the original recipe. I had like 100 ideas going through my head, and at one point, I was going to do several takes on this eclair using different fillings, flavors and shapes, without even doubling the recipe.

For instance, 12 eclairs, each with a different filling, whether it be a pastry cream, mousse, whipped ganache etc – enhanced with nut pastes, fruits curds ad infinitum, plus a mini croquembouche, for fun. However, after over a week of A LOT of baking and big dinners, which resulted in my not being able to get started on these until the very last second (literally, August 31st), I changed course and instead added a surprise layer of cooked fruit beneath the pastry cream. Half the recipe contains a layer of diced bananas, caramelized with sugar, salt, butter and rum, with a dusting of edible gold and dried banana ‘dust’ on top of the chocolate glaze. The other half of the recipe contains a layer of raspberries..very briefly cooked down with raspberry coulis, beneath the pastry cream.

Salted Butter Caramel Rum Banana White Chocolate Cream Eclairs

The only changes I made to the original recipe was using white chocolate in the pastry cream instead of the bittersweet chocolate it called for, and a little whipped cream to lighten it up. However, due to last minute mania, by the time I got to the pastry cream, I was so tired I rushed it, resulting in a much looser consistency than usual. I also coated some of my eclair tops with melted white chocolate, drizzling the chocolate glaze from Pierre’s recipe over the white chocolate (Doesn’t the eclair in the photo with the raspberries look like Shamu the Orca?). I must say, I really enjoyed alternating glazes from white to bittersweet, and playing around with different designs to make my little french darlings look tres jolie. Actually, ‘little’ is a misnomer. I prefer my eclairs very chubby, so no long, thin, ‘finger like’ baked babies here. Let’s just say mine are the big guys pushing the dainty ones off the dessert tray.

Finally, I usually like to just stick a pastry tip into one end of the eclair shell and fill it up with pastry cream, but since I was incorporating a layer of fruit, opening them up was the only choice I had. Regardless, a split eclair makes a very pretty presentation, albeit being a little messier to eat.

Salted Butter Rum Caramel Banana Eclairs and White Choccie Raspberry Eclairs

Raspberry White Chocolate Eclairs

Pierre Herme’s Cream Puff Dough (Pate a Choux)
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

  • 1/2 cup (125g) whole milk
  • 1/2 cup (125g) water
  • 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions

1. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

5. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

6. Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 eclairs.

7. Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the eclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the eclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

TIP: To insure even rising of the eclairs, dip a fork in water, and run it over the tops of the piped pate a choux prior to baking.

Notes:
1. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2. You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme

  • 2 cups (500g) whole milk
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons (75g) sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
  • 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Guanaja, (use white chocolate, such as Valrhona Ivoire or white Callebaut, melted, for both my raspberry and banana eclairs)
  • 2 1/2 tbsp (1 1/4 oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

2. Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4. Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5. Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice-water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice-water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. Fold in the whipped cream. The pastry cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:
1. The pastry cream can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2. In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3. Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

  • 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
  • 3 1/2 oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 4 teaspoons (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
  • 7 tablespoons (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2. Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

3. The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula (I prefer to dip the tops into the glaze).

Notes:
1. If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2. It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Notes:
1. If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme
(makes 1 1/2 cups or 525 g)

  • 4 1/2 oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 cup (250 g) water
  • 1/2 cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2. It may take 10-15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1. You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2. This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Salted Butter Rum Caramel Bananas

recipe from Dessert Circus by Jacques Torres

  • 4 large bananas, peeled and diced
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or any other mild sea salt, like Maldon. Kosher salt is fine too

Directions

1. Place the diced bananas in a medium-sized mixing bowl with the rum and toss to coat. Set aside to let macerate at room temperature while you prepare the caramel.

2. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. If it starts to smoke, it is too hot and you need to run it under cool water, dry it, and start again. When it is warm, sprinkle the sugar into the pan. Try to keep the sugar in an even layer to allow it all to caramelize at the same time. As soon as you see the sugar begin to melt, start moving the pan over the burner to keep the sugar from burning. Tilt the pan from side to side so that the melted sugar runs over the unmelted sugar. Cook until all of the sugar is a light golden brown.

3. Stir in the tablespoon of butter and sea salt. Add the rum macerated bananas and spread evenly in the pan. When cooking with alcohol, there is always the chance of it catching on fire, so be very careful when adding the rum macerated bananas. Continue to cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and the bananas are soft but not mushy; they should still hold their shape. Remove from the heat and pour the rum caramel bananas onto a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool for about 20 minutes. Covering the hot bananas with plastic wrap keeps the caramel from drying as it cools.

Banana Fairy Dust >can’t you just feel the twinkling?<

  • 2 bananas, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
  • Edible gold flakes, glitter or luster dust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 F. Lay the banana slices on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Let dry out in the oven for 2 hours. Flip each one over, and let dry for another 2 hours equaling 4 hours total.  You can also do this with a food dehydrator or just purchase a bag banana chips (salted makes great dust) but make sure they’re all natural, no artificial yellow #7!

2. Grind up the banana chips in a food processor, or pound them in a plastic bag with a mallet until they’re as fine as dust or close as you can get to it. Stir in the amount of edible gold you’d like and sprinkle on top of eclairs before the chocolate glaze sets.

Raspberry Filling

2 pints of raspberries, divided
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium pot, combine raspberries, sugar and water and bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat to medium and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until raspberries are mushy and mixture has thickened.  Pour hot mixture into a bowl and stir in lemon juice.  Cool completely.

2. Once cool, stir the mixture well, then pour into a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl.  Using a spoon, press on the cooked berries and stir to extract as much coulis (thick raspberry juices) as you can into the bowl.  Discard solids.

3. Pour the other pint of raspberries into a bowl and drizzle with coulis until the raspberries are completely coated.  Use any extra coulis to drizzle over eclairs and/or decorate the plate.

Assemble:

For the Salted Butter Rum Caramel Banana Eclairs:
Split each eclair shell in half horizontally. Spoon about 1 -2 tablespoons of the caramelized bananas into the bottom half of the shell. *Decoratively pipe or spoon the pastry cream over the bananas, and top with a chocolate glazed/banana fairy dusted shell.

For the Raspberry Eclairs:
Split each eclair shell in half and spoon some of raspberries in coulis into the bottom half of the shell. Drizzle with some more of the the raspberry coulis, if desired. *Decoratively pipe or spoon pastry cream over the coulis glazed raspberries  Top with a white chocolate glazed eclair shell, then drizzle with any chocolate glaze left over from the banana eclairs. Lather, rinse, repeat all of the above until you’ve filled and topped all of the eclair shells.

*As I mentioned above, I started these late, late last night/early morning, so I didn’t have time to let the pastry cream cool and set as it should. When I piped it into each shell, it started to weep and lose its shape almost immediately, as you can see in the last photo below. Rushing is NEVER a good thing in baking!

Salted Butter Caramel Rum Banana White Chocolate Cream Eclairs

My final verdict:

Cream Puff Dough (Pate a Choux) : It’s a good one, but a tad too eggy, and they need to be baked longer, as the interior isn’t fully cooked at 20 minutes total, hence all the collapsing shells many experienced. Regardless, I prefer Gail Gand’s choux recipe when making eclairs.

Pastry Cream: Fantastic, although I rushed it (once again, see above) and ended up with a somewhat runny cream. MY BAD, not Pierre’s recipe. Don’t you hate when you screw up something you can usually do/make in your sleep?

Chocolate Glaze: Also fantastic, although a little more involved than need be. A simple, shiny chocolate ganache is what I usually top my eclairs with.

All in all, this was very enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to the next DBC.

Finally, I must remind myself never to start a DBC recipe the day it’s due. Even though I’ve been incredibly busy the past two weeks, I had two weeks to get these done! Then again, I used to leave HS and college assignments until the night before they were due, no matter how far ahead they were assigned.  I’ll never forget the almost 100 page long essay project I finished in the passenger’s seat of my friend’s car on our way back to Boston after driving home the previous night (4-5 hours each way) to pick up summer clothes for Spring Break. I had 2 months to research and finish this essay, yet I didn’t start it until two days before it was due. Some things never change, huh?

Salted Butter Rum Banana White Chocolate Cream Eclairs

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Posted in Daring Bakers, Dessert, Pastry, Puddings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Peaches and “Steam” Cupcakes for ICE Challenge: Chile Pepper

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Lisa

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!Cupcakes are Peachy! Well, they are in this case; this case being a super duper moist peach infused cupcake spiked with just enough sizzling habanero pepper to tickle, but not burn, your palate, in a really, really good way.  I like to call them peaches n’ steam cupcakes, and you’ll see why.

SO…

Ladies and Gentlemen, there’s a new challenge in town! Thanks to Marika of Madcap Cupcake for alerting me to this! Created by Sandy, the Cupcake Queen of Wisconsin, it’s called Iron Cupcake Earth, and every month there will be a new challenge with a particular and undoubtedly cool ingredient! Not only that – you can win actual prizes in this one! Winner(s) will receive prizes from Etsy Artisans (Cakespy), Cupcake Couriers, Taste of Home, Fiesta Products, Jessie Steele Aprons, Hello Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, and those are just some of the several sponsors who will supplying the goodies to the winner(s) in these challenges.

To join, all you need to do is email Iron Cupcake Sandy at [email protected] with the following information:

Name
City, State, Country
Blog Address
Flickr Name
Referral: Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives

How could you resist this? Baking cupcakes is a sweet and always rewarding prize on its own. To have a chance at winning a prize for doing so is the proverbial cherry on the icing (of a cupcake, of course), and a big, fat, juicy one at that! Don’t miss out on this one! I know I won’t! This month’s special ingredient is pretty hot..*drum roll* chile peppers!

AND NOW, to my entry..

I decided to take this challenge all the way up the Scoville chart with one of the hottest peppers in the world, a slot or two beneath THE hottest pepper in THE world (Naga Jolokia). The Naga Jolokia is about two rungs down from pure capsaicin (and believe me, if I could have gotten some of those, I would have!). I assume most of you know what pepper I’m referring to; the utmost tongue-burning, palate-pickling, finger-singeing pepper I could get my hands on..the Habanero.

THIS WOULD BE MY HOT CUPCAKE PROJECT!!

When I made my decision, it brought back memories of a supposed ‘palate cleanser’ I had in the middle of a 5-course dinner several years ago. It was called Fire and Ice, and it was literally fire with barely a titch of ice.  A small scoop of lemon sorbet packed into a small Habanero pepper. To say I barely felt the sorbet is an understatement. After huffing, puffing, sweating, tearing, and feeling as if every organ in my body had a bad case of sunburn, I decided this pepper was too much to take. This didn’t cleanse your palate, it burned off your taste buds!

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

Several years after my near-death experience, I had a delicious jerk shrimp that had just the right amount of heat. After discovering the shrimp was soaked in a marinade containing Habanero, I decided to give it another shot via using it in small amounts in certain recipes. The Habanero and I finally reached a compromise, and ever since, I like to incorporate small amounts of it into the occasional sweet or savory dish, depending on my mood or the recipe.

As you all know, summer is the best time for peaches. I always try to keep a bowl of fresh peaches on the table and some in the fridge for a cool treat during the dog days of August. Having all of these fresh, summer peaches on hand; when I heard about the Iron Cupcake Earth Challenge; my first thought was a revved up peach cupcake. Now that the Habanero and I were on good cooking and baking terms, it was also the first thing that came to mind when I saw we had to incorporate a chile pepper into a cupcake.

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

The Habanero was the easy part. My main dilemma was achieving a peach cake where chopped peaches or peach preserves folded into a white or yellow cake batter wasn’t the only way to impart peach flavor into the cake. I wanted to infuse an intense peach flavor into the actual crumb of the cake without having to use any kind of peach oils or extracts. I hit the market and stocked up on just about everything ‘peach’ I could find that wasn’t processed or artificial (eg: Peach Jello. A big, fat no). Fresh peaches (check), peach nectar (check), dried peaches (check), and some kind of peach liqueur, the latter conjuring up memories of drunken, soon-to-be-sick, teenage nights.

After experimenting with all of the above, I finally came up with something that’s definitely peachy, without using any peach oils/extracts or artificial flavoring. However, it took a little more trial and error than I initially thought. First, I tried it with fresh pureed peaches and diced dried peaches in the batter, and although tasty and peachy, it still wasn’t ‘peachy’ enough.

Back to square one. Maybe I could substitute peach nectar for the milk in my yellow cake recipe? Hmm..that could work. After discussing it with several baking fanatics, I was reminded that the milk provides a chemical reaction with the baking powder, and fruit juice should never be completely substituted for milk in any cake recipe. Maybe I could use half milk and half peach nectar? I had to at least try it. Well, there was a little more peach flavor, if you like a dense, kind of flat cupcake.

Back to the drawing board.

After thinking about it for another few days, it hit me one night as I was tossing and turning in bed after a bad day in general and a very bad Yankee loss. One of my favorite ways to use peaches, when I get the urge for them if they’re not in season and/or at their best, is splitting and roasting them then filling each half with something creamy, like a white chocolate mousse, creme fraiche, or ice cream. I got out of bed and Googled ‘roasted peach cake’. One of the sites that turned up just so happened to be one of my favorite blogs of yore (she’s on hiatus, at this time), Cupcake Bakeshop, run by a very talented gal who goes by the nickname Chockylit. Her cupcake was a melange of roasted peaches, blueberries and other goodies, but that was all I needed to see.

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!I incorporated some mashed roasted peaches (tossed with flour, so no extraneous bits would sink to the bottom of the cupcake) into one of my old standby yellow cake recipes. This time, though, I decided to re-hydrate the dried peaches for a more tender and peachier bite. With a little spice, almond extract, a silky, smooth peach curd filling (napped with Peach Schnapps aka drunken teenage nights), and of course, the Habanero, I came close to what I was seeking. The uber creamy cream cheese frosting, infused with peach and honey, took this cupcake to yet another level (Who doesn’t love cream cheese frosting?).

One bite of this cupcake, and you immediately think ‘peaches n’ cream’. However, since the Habanero was invited to this party, I decided a more apropos moniker would be..”Peaches N’ Steam” Cupcakes. Yeah, I know, corny, but I really like it!

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

Next time I’m going to cut off the underside of the cake plug so I get a nice, round circle of peach curd filling. The plug squished it down.

These cupcakes are pure peaches & cream, with a titch of heat to enhance the flavor even more. The amount of Habanero you use is entirely up to you, and in fact, you don’t have to use it at all. However, if you try it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well it compliments the peaches and doesn’t cause any bodily harm (unlike my aforementioned near-death experience).

That said, I incorporated the Habanero into every part of this cupcake except the cream cheese frosting. The combination of the fruity heat and cool, creamy, tangy frosting is perfect. Overkill is not always a bad thing, but in this case, you could call the frosting a safety zone, or shall I say a ‘Fire Exit’? Then again, with some candied Habanero rings/bows and tingling Habanero lollipop-like toppers, maybe not.

Peaches N’ Steam Cupcakes

Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

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Peaches and Steam Cupcakes
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 12 to 14 cupcakes
 
ingredients:
Roasted Peach Cupcakes
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup fresh. roasted peach puree (directions below)
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • ¾ cup diced dried peaches, rehydrated in boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon very finely diced habanero pepper (more or less depending on how much heat you can handle)
Peach-Habanero Curd Filling
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (cornstarch or arrowroot starch is fine too) *
  • 1 cup fresh peach puree (see directions in cupcake recipe)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Peach Schnapps or peach liqueur of your choice
  • 6 Tablespoons of butter
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon diced habanero, ground into a paste (use a mortar and pestle or a knife with gloves)
Honey-Peach Cream Cheese Frosting**
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 cup peach nectar, reduced to ¼ cup
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Candied Habanero Rings/Bows and Habanero Syrup Candy Toppers
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • Approximately 4-6 Habanero peppers, depending on their size, cut into rings (push the seeds out, and try to scrape as much rib out as possible, from each ring (USING GLOVES! If you don't use gloves, do NOT rub your eyes until you've washed your hands thoroughly with lots of soap and hot water!!) If the ring breaks, you'll tie or twist these into 'bows' once they're done cooking in the syrup, prior to drying them).
directions:
Make the Roasted Peach Puree and Rehydrate Dried Peaches
  1. To roast the peaches for peach puree; preheat oven to 350 F. Cut peach(es) in half, remove the pit, and roast cut side down on a lightly greased or parchment or silpat lined baking sheet for 20-30 minutes, depending on how ripe your peaches are. Scoop out the roasted flesh, and puree or mash until somewhat smooth (Leave oven at 350). Set aside roasted peach puree/mash to cool. In the meantime, place the diced, dried peaches in a bowl and pour boiling water on top of them to cover. Let sit 20 minutes, then drain and cool in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
Make the Roasted Peach Cupcakes
  1. Line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin pan with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk with the vanilla and almond extracts; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, or stand mixer with paddle, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  3. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla/almond extract mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
  4. Combine the roasted peach puree/mash with the 2 tablespoons of flour, then stir gently into the batter until it's well disseminated throughout the batter. Fold in rehydrated, diced, dried peaches and the finely the diced Habanero pepper.
  5. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (a small to medium ice-cream scoop is good for this), so each cupcake liner is about ⅔ full (You may have extra batter after filling each cupcake liner. DO NOT overfill each cupcake liner to compensate for this - just save it to make another 2-4 cupcakes, filling the empty muffin pan wells with water prior to baking, to insure even rising/baking).
  6. Bake at 350 F until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 21 to 27 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in pan, then remove and cool completely on a rack before filling and frosting.
Make the Peach-Habanero Curd Filling
  1. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the peach puree, sugar, lemon juice, tapioca starch and Peach Schnapps (if using).
  2. Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, and stir until thickened (completely coats the back of a spoon).
  3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the butter, one tablespoon at a time until melted and combined.
  4. Push the curd through a strainer into another bowl. Stir in the habanero paste. Place some plastic wrap directly on top of the curd and chill for several hours.
Make the Honey Peach Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Pour peach nectar into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat, then continue to boil until the nectar is reduced to ¼ cup. It should be thick and syrupy. If you can't find peach nectar, substitute ¼ cup peach preserves or jam.
  2. Beat butter with the cream cheese until combined.
  3. Scrape down the bowl and add the reduced peach nectar and honey and continue beating until smooth and uniform.
  4. Add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.
  5. Let chill for about an hour or two, covered tightly,
Make the Candied Habanero Rings/Bows and Habanero Syrup Candy Toppers
  1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Let come to a boil without stirring, then cook it to the soft or firm ball stage (Anywhere between 235 -250 F on a candy thermometer, unless you prefer the cold water test.
  2. Add the pepper rings and strips to the syrup, and let cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool. When cool, tie any of the broken rings into one knot bows ot twist some of the unbroken rings into bows, then place back into the syrup. Let sit overnight, then, using a slotted spoon, remove them to a parchment or silpat lined pan, separating them to dry. You want them somewhat sticky when set (think of those candied red and green maraschino cherries you find/use in Christmas fruit cake, that's the sticky factor you want on the pepper rings and bows). Reserve the Habanero syrup in the saucepan
  3. Cook down the reserved Habanero sugar syrup until it reaches the hard crack stage, 300 –310 F on a candy thermometer. Add some food color if desired. Turn off the heat, and let cool until thickened but still loose enough to drop (the consistency of honey is close to what you want). Drizzle candy designs on a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet. They should set up pretty quickly.
Assemble The Cupcakes
  1. Cut out about a 1-inch circle from the top of each cupcake, almost all the way to the bottom. Pull out the 'cupcake plug', then fill each with a heaping teaspoon or more of the Peach-Habanero curd. Cut off some of the cake from under each 'plug', so it doesn't squish down the curd (Unfortunately, I failed to do that, hence why my filling is 'squished' down into more of a line then a circle) when you place it back on top of the filled cupcake.
  2. Spread or pipe frosting on each cupcake, then top with a candied Habanero 'bow' or ring. Stick a hardened Habanero sugar drizzle into the frosting, if using.
notes:
* *I used the tapioca starch to insure a thicker, more stable curd since I didn't want to chance it being just runny enough to ooze out all over your brand new, expensive sweater, blouse or shirt on the first, second and third bite.
**Double the recipe if you want a lot of frosting - especially a somewhat high, decorative swirl, (if piped), on each cupcake. Unfortunately, cream cheese frosting doesn't hold a design as well as a buttercream or decorator's frosting, so put them in the fridge as soon you pipe on the frosting.
EXTRA NOTE - I achieved the striped frosting by brushing the inside of a disposable plastic pastry bag with red, orange and gold gel paste food color stripes before loading with the frosting. Parts of the frosting swirl that didn't have the gel color, I touched up with a fine brush dipped in that color.
ONE MORE EXTRA NOTE - You don't have to add the habanero to both the batter and curd. I usually just add it to the curd, depending on who I'm making them for.
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Peaches 'N Steam Cupcakes. Roasted Peach Cupcakes with a bit of habanero pepper to really amp up the peach flavor, + a cream cheese honey peach frosting!

As you can see, I mixed this batch up a bit, some with and some without the variety of sugar toppers I made. However, every one of them contained a candied Habanero bow or ring, for those who dared to take it on. OK, I’m over-exaggerating since it’s such a small bite and the slightly sticky sugar glaze kind of neutralizes the heat…well, for the first few seconds or so.

Vote for your favorite chile pepper cupcake! Voting will begin on Sunday, August 31st at 12 noon at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, where all the chile pepper cupcake entries will be posted. The voting will be open through Thursday, September 4th at 12 noon.

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Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes, Dessert, Fruit, Puddings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments