Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (TK’s 2022 bday)

 Made this recipe from Martha: 

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona) 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 large egg 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream 

For the Brittle

• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup 
• 2 tablespoons water 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) cocktail peanuts, finely chopped in a food processor 

For the Filling

• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter 
• 3/4 cup heavy cream 
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate (61 percent), chopped 
• Pinch of salt

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  Make the crust: Whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low, and gradually beat in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with cream and beginning and ending with flour mixture. Shape dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before rolling.

• Step 2

  Roll out dough into a 7-by-16-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Fit into a 4 1/2-by-14-inch rectangular tart ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Push dough into corners of ring to create sharp edges; trim so that dough is flush with top of ring. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

• Step 3

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line crust with parchment, pressing so that it is flush with dough, especially in corners. Fill with pie weights or dried beans; bake until edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove weights and parchment; bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

• Step 4

  Make the brittle: Bring sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to brown. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until golden brown. Stir in baking soda, salt, and peanuts until well combined (mixture should be the color of peanut butter). Immediately pour onto a nonstick baking mat, spreading out as thinly as possible with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Finely chop half the brittle with a heavy knife to yield 1/2 cup. Reserve remainder for another use.

• Step 5

  Make the filling: Heat peanut butter in a microwave until fluid, about 30 seconds. Pour 1/2 cup into crust, and top with chopped brittle, pressing it into peanut butter. Freeze tart until peanut butter is firm, about 10 minutes. For ganache, bring cream to a boil; pour over chocolate in a small bowl. Add salt; let sit 8 minutes.

• Step 6

  Meanwhile, fill a disposable pastry bag with remaining fluid peanut butter (if peanut butter has thickened, microwave it 10 seconds), and snip off end. Whisk ganache until smooth, and immediately pour into tart, smoothing with a mini offset spatula if necessary. Pipe peanut butter in continuous diagonal zigzag lines down length of tart. Draw a wooden skewer perpendicularly through peanut butter lines in a zigzag motion down length of tart. Then draw skewer in a continuous sideways loop pattern down length of tart to create swirls.

• Step 7

  Refrigerate tart until set, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. Cut into wedges, and serve.

  
  

My notes:

1. The crust was not really that yummy. I admittedly used TJ’s cocoa powder, not Valhrona but still, it really fell flat— didn’t taste chocolate-y and was dry. I ended up taking the crust off and tossing it before eating my piece. 

2. I didn’t have the tart pan, so I used a 9 inch round cake pan lined with parchment, it came out just fine. 

3. The brittle and the rest of it came out well, and was yummy. I used 71% chocolate in the ganache and omitted the salt (as I felt everything was already on the salty side). Next time I would use exactly 6 oz of peanuts (I eyeballed 1.5 cups) because otherwise the brittle gets too crumbly. 

4. Overall, good, but the crust, which took the bulk of the prep time, was so underwhelming, I will unlikely make again. I made it on Tuesday and served on Wednesday, and it was fine. It is rather pretty, though. 

Vegan brownies (uses flax eggs)

 Saw this on Insta, tried it out because I had some leftover vegan butter. 

From A Big Man’s World:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 6 tablespoon brewed coffee can use for water
• 1 cup chocolate chips of choice
• 1 cup coconut sugar * See notes
• 6 tablespoon vegan butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour can use gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1-2 cups chocolate chips of choiceoptional

Instructions

• Prepare your flax egg by combining your ground flaxseed with your brewed (chilled) coffee. Let it sit for 10 minutes, to form a gel.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a square pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a microwave-safe bowl or stovetop, melt your chocolate chips of choice. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add your vegan butter and coconut sugar, and whisk well. Add in your prepared flax eggs, melted chocolate, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix well, until glossy.
• Sift through your flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. If using chocolate chips, fold them through. 
• Transfer your brownie batter into the lined pan. Bake your brownies for 30-35 minutes. 
• Remove brownies from the oven and let cool completely, before slicing into 12 pieces.

My notes:

1. Not balanced, not chocolate -y enough, but good texture, and uses half of the normal amount of butter so would consider a retry. I also sort of messed this up the first time in that I accidentally used 6 oz of butter not 6 TBSPs, so I had to double the recipe and I didn’t double the amount of coffee, just added more water… I used imitation vanilla too

2. I modified the directions a bit— 1 cup chips = 6oz chocolate, so I just melted 12 oz of bars and also melted the vegan butter into it too because I didn’t understand how else to do it. I obviously only used vanillin and not the almond extract. I also used white sugar and not coconut sugar. 

3. Would consider making again only because the texture was pretty fantastic, considering it has half the the usual amount of butter. 

Lemon Pistachio Loaf (Vegan, like an olive oil cake)

 This recipe was from Ochre, in Chicago I thought although now apparently in Detroit 

Ingredients

Makes one 9x5" loaf

⅓

cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan

¾

cup (100 g) raw pistachios

Zest of 2 lemons

1¾

cups (220 g) all-purpose flour

1

cup (200 g) granulated sugar

2

tsp. baking powder

¾

tsp. kosher salt

5

Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

7

Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided

2

cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan with vegetable oil, then line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on long sides. Oil parchment paper (for insurance and an easy release).

Step 2

Pulse pistachios in a food processor until finely ground (it’s okay if some of the pieces are a bit larger). Set aside a heaping tablespoonful.

Step 3

Whisk lemon zest, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining pistachios in a large bowl. Whisk olive oil, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, remaining ⅓ cup vegetable oil, and ½ cup water in a small bowl to combine. Pour oil mixture into dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula to combine. Be very careful not to overmix: This batter contains a high ratio of liquid, which means it can get gummy if overworked. Transfer to prepared pan and use a spatula to distribute batter; batter should come halfway up the sides.

Step 4

Bake cake until golden brown all over, it springs back when gently pressed, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. It's okay if your cake has dipped a little in the center. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan, at least 2 hours. Using parchment overhang, lift cake out of pan and place on rack. Peel away parchment.

Step 5

Whisk powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp. lemon juice in a medium bowl, drizzling in remaining 2 Tbsp. lemon juice as needed until you have a thick but pourable glaze. Pour glaze over cake, letting it drip down the sides (if your cake has dipped, you can always glaze the flat underside instead of the top). Immediately top cake with reserved pistachios, then let sit until glaze is set, at least 30 minutes.

Step 6

Do Ahead: Cake can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

My notes: 

1. Delicious, would make again. Pistachios really sing with the subtle lemon zest. Tastes like it’s spiced somehow even though it’s not. Crumb is like that of an olive oil cake. 

2. I would try to pulse the pistachios until quite well ground. Mine sunk in the middle a bit, and I wonder if the variable size of the nuts was a factor. I used APP and followed the recipe exactly, except I only made half of the glaze, which was plenty plenty. Next time, would consider using a little water/milk instead of all lemon juice in the glaze, as I found it on the sour side. 

3. Took about 52 minutes in the oven. 

Lime Pudding Cups (no egg, no cornstarch)

 Recipe comes together brilliantly fast. Great flavor, and sets really smoothly. 

Would consider using as the filling if I had a graham cracker crust ready, would be just like a thick key lime, or could do squares, would be like lemon bars

Salted Pistachio Crumbles

Delicious! The grittiness of the cornmeal is nice here, and I added some cardamom into the crumbles, which I would absolutely do again. Nice on top of ice cream, fruit, etc. 

Salted Caramel Apple Galette

 Recipe from JK adams 

Caramel Apple Galette

Serves: 6-8

• FOR CRUST:
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
• FOR FILLING:
• 5 medium Honeycrisp apples peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• Salted caramel sauce (we use Stonewall Kitchen) 
• 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk for egg wash

Directions:

1. FOR CRUST:
1. Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor to blend. 
2. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles sand. 
3. Whisk egg yolks and heavy cream until well combined. 
4. Slowly add cream mixture to dry ingredients in processor and pulse until dough forms. Your dough should hold together (but not be sticky) when you squeeze it. If it's too dry, add a little more cream and pulse lightly until you're happy with the consistency. 
5. Form your dough into a ball on a lightly floured surface, flatten to a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. 
2. FOR FILLING:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Mix the apples, brown sugar, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and almond extracts together in a large bowl. 
3. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough into an 11-inch circle. The true beauty of the galette is that perfection is optional: rough edges lend themselves beautifully to the rustic nature of this dessert. Transfer dough to your baking sheet. 
4. Arrange the apples – without their juice – in the center of the dough, leaving a 3 inch border all around. Gently fold the edges of the dough over the apples, pleating the dough and pressing gently as you go. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of caramel onto the apples. Brush your dough with the egg.
5. Bake until your crust is golden brown, about 35-38 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Drizzle salted caramel sauce across the top before serving.

My notes: 

1. Galette dough was quite dry with only 3 TBSP of cream,  I had too add lots more glugs, and even then it was dry, and crumbly after a day of refrigeration. 

2. I used 4 large honeycrisp apples, and I didn’t have room for all of them. I saved some. Filling is yummy, but doesn’t need to rest super long. I don’t think honeycrisp is the best apple in terms of texture— stayed quite crispy. 

3. Would I make again? Unlikely. I used my own salted caramel though