Chocolate-Peanut Butter Tart

For my last day of work, I wanted to bring in a special little treat for the office. I really didn't feel like bringing a cake, and cookies just felt to boring.

Thank God Martha Stewart saved my life on this one and introduced me to the most AMAZING dessert I've ever tasted, the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Tart. You need to drop everything and make this now.

Warning: It did take quite a long time to make with all of the cooling and freezing, so make sure you've got a long afternoon or evening for this one. And my peanut butter marbling definitely didn't turn out as good as this, but it was easier than I thought with a wooden skewer.

And don't worry about the nutrition info. on this one. Just don't. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 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

  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.
  
  

  

  
  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 (fantes.com) 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.
  
  

  

  
  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.
  
  

  

  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Refrigerate tart until set, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. Cut into wedges, and serve.
  
  
  
  
  I woke boyfriend up Tuesday morning with a square of this tart and he was sooo happy. I then told him I was taking the rest into work and he turned into grumpy boyfriend. I'll have to make it again, just for him. And you should make it too!
  
  And the brittle is delicious. Use the extra brittle as a topping over ice cream. Boom.

Bright, Fresh Coconut Key Lime Squares

So much baking this week, I love it!
I'm on to my last actual day of vacation, and I've been cooking up a storm, making all of those recipes that I just can't find the time to dig into during a typical work week.

These super citrus, fresh, bright coconut key lime bars are perfect for brunch, a quick morning treat with some hot coffee or just because! They make your typical lemon bar look a bit ho-hum.

I found this recipe via Martha Stewart Living Magazine a while ago, and have been holding on to it for far too long. Little bits of white chocolate make the crust a perfect sweet counterpart to the tart limes. I couldn't find key limes in the dead of winter, so I used regular limes, and the taste was perfect. The coconut didn't stand out too much, so if you're not a coconut fan, don't be discouraged. And if you love yourself some coconut, maybe sprinkle a bit on top of the bars, or add extra to the crust.

And my boyfriend said that these may be the best treat I've ever made...score!


Martha Stewart's Coconut Key Lime Squares
Takes about 1 1/2 hours to make, and you can make these a day ahead, too

Ingredients

• Crust

  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more, softened, for pan
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
  • Rounded 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded desiccated unsweetened coconut
  • 3 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)

• Filling

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice or regular lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Crust: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom and 2 sides of pan with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang; lightly butter the parchment.
   
2. Combine flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter, and pulse until largest pieces are the size of peas. Add coconut and white chocolate, and pulse a few more times, just until mixture holds together.
   
   
   Transfer mixture to pan, and pack down firmly with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce heat to 300 degrees.
   
3. 
   3.  Filling: Whisk together eggs and granulated sugar in a bowl, then whisk in flour. Gently stir in lime juice (do not whisk or stir vigorously or batter will become foamy).\
   
   
4. Pour filling over hot crust, and bake until filling is set, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
   
5. 
   Run the tip of a knife along the 2 sides of the pan not lined with parchment, then remove from pan by lifting with parchment overhang. Transfer to a cutting board, dust with confectioners' sugar, and cut into 1-inch squares.
   

Making Caramels

I LOVE CARAMEL.

So when I came across this recipe with a few alternatives in Martha Stewart Living's December issue, I decided to make caramels for my co-workers for Christmas.

I made the classic caramels as well as the chocolate coconut caramel candies.

The process was very simple, but there are a few things you need to be particular about in order to be successful.

Temperature is key!
 You really do need an accurate candy thermometer, and I don't think mine was too accurate. I ended up using the look of the caramel, color, gauging when it started to really crystallize. This recipe calls for the caramel to reach 248 degrees F, but working with a gas stove made that pretty difficult, as the pot doesn't heat up evenly.


I was worried about burning the caramels (you can't come back from that!), so I took my classic caramels off the stove a pinch too early. After 8 hours of waiting for them to set, though, they firmed up and had a great caramel consistency.

I definitely took the chocolate caramels off the stove too early, as I couldn't guess the color of the caramel after the chocolate was added. These only firmed up to a thick chocolate sauce consistency, so after they set, I melted the caramel in a pot and heated it up a bit more. This totally fixed the consistency problem, and they turned out even better than the classic caramels.

And you really do need to use a LARGE POT for these. Because of the cream, the mixture boils and foams up pretty high, so you need that extra height to prevent it from spilling over.

Be patient and watch these on the stove. Don't overmix. Sometimes it's good to just let the mixture be on the stove.

The recipe did make a large number of caramels. It took FOREVER to wrap them all up in saran wrap.

I packed them in these cute Martha Stewart gift boxes from Michaels to bring to the office.

What do you usually give your co-workers for the holidays?

Sonoma Sustenance

A major perk of having a fabulous mother with mad cooking skills is that she's in the "In Club" at Williams-Sonoma. Meaning she works there, for their nice discount - and that discount treats you nicely.

When my mother came to Chicago about a week ago, we, of course, took a trip to Williams-Sonoma at 900 North Michigan Shops, because "Chicago has things that the Cleveland store doesn't have." Which is true, I guess.

We picked up two holiday-themed chocolate goodies:

1. Peppermint Baked Brownie Mix - A+++ This stuff was delicious. Not only does it come with a peppermint candy topping, but the actual brownie mix itself is infused with peppermint. Just add butter and eggs to their packaged mix, fold together gently, and bake for about 30 minutes. My shotty oven required me to bake them a bit longer than 30 minutes.

These brownies came out thick and gooey, boyfriend was so upset that I was making them for my co-workers and not him (don't worry, I did leave him a few).  They were a hit with my co-workers. At $16.95 per box,  yes, these are the most expensive brownies I have ever baked/eaten, but hey, it's the holidays. And they are SO GOOD.

2. Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate Mix - A+ Finally! REAL hot chocolate. This isn't a cocoa powder, the container holds real flecks of chocolate that you melt with milk on the stove. This hot chocolate is so creamy and thick, one cup will definitely fill you up. Make a cup for your boyfriend so he doesn't try to steal yours. Careful, the calorie count is pretty high, and this stuff is addicting.

There is also a peppermint hot chocolate flavor, but the bulk of the peppermint taste is lost after boiling with water. I'd stick with the classic flavor.

At almost $20/jar, still an expensive investment in hot chocolate, but what do you expect from Williams-Sonoma?



*If you buy the hot chocolate, you MUST ALSO BUY the Williams-Sonoma homemade marshmallows.  They come in two sizes (the minis are plenty) and are shaped like giant cubes, not  the look or consistency of your typical Jewel-Osco marshmallow, but they melt so perfectly in a cup of hot chocolate, creating a creamy, marshmallowy layer of perfection. Both the classic marshmallow and the peppermint marshmallow are great.
 

TJ's Heaven - Gingerbread Molasses Cookie Dough

I discovered this ready-to-bake cookie dough at Trader Joe's just one month ago, and I've already baked three packages. Trader Joe's Gingerbread Molasses Cookie Dough is easily the best ready-to-go cookie dough I've tasted. And it's just as good cooked as it is raw! The test of a good cookie.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F, break the dough apart and roll it in the included sugar crystals. Bake for 15 minutes. These come out of the oven pretty fluffy, but quickly deflate. Still, they're a chewy bunch. 

 Little Ellie waiting for me to drop a piece of dough

Stock up on these when you find them at your local Trader Joe's, as they don't stay on the shelves very long.

TJ's should definitely come out with a full line of ready-to-bake doughs. Don't you think? Chocolate chip, peanut butter - that would be a huge hit! Mmmm... I need another cookie.