Desserts... again.

I have one more dessert recipe for you this week, but man oh man it's a good one!  The is the final recipe I'll give you from my Central Market cooking class; chocolate ganache.  First, I do want to prove to you that I didn't just east desserts all night.  We did have some dinner before we got down to business.  I loved these flowers too, Central Market has a great flower selection and I thought this was a proud display for us to enjoy while in our class!

Can't really go wrong with salami and cheese.

Add some carbs and a small salad and I was good to go.  And by go I mean ready to chow down on dessert.  :)

I was so hungry I used three spoons all for myself.  Just kidding!!  This was a bowl of ganache that they had made ahead of time, chilled and we rolled them into truffles.

In this case we made truffles with the ganache, but you can do many other things with it too.  The plan was rolling the chocolate in either nuts or cocoa. 

And we were off!  I'm not sure which I liked better, both were creamy and delicious.

This is a great finger dessert to make if you're having people over, also great as a little gift.  Plus they look like they took a lot of work - when in reality you didn't have to do that much, which is always a plus.

There are a lot of additions you could make to these too.  We used just chocolate and heavy cream, but you could also add brandy or triple sec.  You can also use bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, which ever you prefer. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Ganache into Truffles

Adapted from: Central Market cooking school

1.1 pounds of semi sweet chocolate

2 cups of heavy cream

Bring heavy cream to a boil over a double boiler.

Pour over chocolate in a mixing bowl and stir thoroughly.

Strain through a sieve.

Put in a bowl without covering and put into fridge.

Take out of the fridge and roll into balls, you must work fast as the chocolate comes down to room temperature very fast.

Roll in nuts, cocoa power, or whatever you wish.



Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Before I get to these amazing brownies, I would just like to remind everyone that Bloggers Bake for Hope bake sale starts next Wednesday, May 4th.  All profits go to Susan G Komen for the Cure.  You only have three days to bid, the sale ends the end of the day Friday, May 6th.  Take a look at what's for sale by clicking here.  It's a great cause, and you'll get to experience the baking of some amazing bloggers!  Let me know if you have any questions, I'll remind you next week too :)

Now - the brownies.  As you all know, I enjoy anything with peanut butter and chocolate, brownies are a pretty great addition too.  This is like a peanut butter cup with a brownie on the bottom instead of a layer of chocolate.  Yes, please rush to your kitchen and make these now, you'll love them.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking pan.  Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the paper extend up the sides of the pan and butter the parchment paper.  This will allow you to remove the brownies from the pan much easier.  In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter.

 Remove from heat and add the sugar and stir to combine.  I poured the butter into a bowl before I added the sugar, because my pan wasn't large enough to work with. 

Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

Mix in cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Finally add the flour and stir until just combined with no streaks of dry ingredients left. 

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for around 25 minutes. 

After they were finished in the oven I left the brownies to cool in the pan for around 20 minutes, then took them out using the parchment paper and left on a cooling rack for probably another half hour.

While the brownies are cooling, make the peanut butter filling.  In a bowl with an electric mixer or stand mixer, combine the ingredients and beat until smooth.  Add more milk if necessary to allow you to spread it on top of the brownies. 

Spread the peanut butter filling in an even layer over the brownies.  Place in the fridge for around 30 minutes to allow the filling to set.

While filling is setting in the fridge, make the genache.  Combine the ingredients in a double broiler or in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl.  Melt together and combine.  Then pour the genache over the top of the peanut butter layer.

Spread evenly and gently.  Then return to the fridge for another 20 minutes or so, until set.  The chocolate will get hard, that's when you know it's ready! 

I sliced them into a "two bite" piece.  They're very rich, so I would make sure you don't cut them into huge pieces.  Most people will probably only be able to handle a few bites at a time.  I, on the other hand, could handle the whole batch at one time.  These were the perfect chocolate/peanut butter combination.  The brownie tasted great, and the peanut butter layer was soft and creamy.  If you read through the steps, you'll see these aren't a quick dessert to make, they take some time.  It is so worth the wait, and I got a lot of compliments on them.  Get your sweet tooth ready and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

Adapted from: Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Brownies:

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Peanut Butter Filling:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1-3 teaspoons milk

Genache Topping:

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 cups chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, and allow it to extend up the two sides.

Butter the parchment paper as well.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.

Remove from the heat and add the sugar, stir to combine.

Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

Mix in cocoa, baking powder and salt. 

Add flour and stir until just combined and there aren't any streaks of dry ingredients.

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for around 25 minutes, and let cool completely.

While the brownies are cooling, make the peanut butter filling.

In a bowl with a mixer combine the ingredients and beat until smooth.

Add more milk if necessary to be spreadable.

Spread in an even layer over the brownies.

Place in the fridge until filling is set, around 30 minutes.

While the filling is setting make the genache.

Combine the ingredients in a double broiler or in a microwave safe bowl.

Melt together and combine.

Pour the genache over the top of the peanut butter filling and spread gently.

Return to the fridge for another 20 minutes, until set.