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Adventures in the kitchen: The chocolate peanut butter edition

First up: Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

I’ve actually made this twice. The first time I completely forgot about the icing. T wasn’t a fan of the rolled oats in the base, either (possibly because a few noticeable flakes escaped the punishing blades of the food processor) and thought it needed “something else”, namely the glaze. I thought it was delicious, personally. But I’m not picky.

Take 1

Take 1

The second time I skipped the flour and oats, and substituted vanilla wine biscuits (the best kind). I did forget to swirl the layers together (there’s always something!) but I made the icing. I wasn’t a fan of the sour cream plus chocolate, so added some icing sugar and cream cheese into the fun.

Take 2

Take 2

I won’t lie; it’s a little pricey. It’s about $10 alone for the creams and chocolate, plus all the other stuff, but hopefully you’ll have those ingredients on hand. BUT SO WORTH IT.

Original recipe found here. (Sorry about the crappy late night photos!)

Base: ¼ cup caster sugar; ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar; 50g butter, softened; 2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter; 1 egg, lightly beaten; ½ cup plain flour, sifted; 2 tbsp cocoa, sifted; ½ cup rolled oats; ¼ tsp baking powder; pinch sea salt

Cheesecake: 500g cream cheese; 3 eggs; 3 egg yolks; 200g caster sugar; 125ml sour cream; 250g smooth peanut butter; 100g dark chocolate

Chocolate Glaze: 250ml sour cream; 100g dark chocolate

METHOD

Heat oven to 160°C. Line 23cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Base: Place all the ingredients for the biscuit base in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture comes together in a ball. Line base of prepared tin and bake for 15 mins. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set the base.

Cheesecake: Mix all ingredients except peanut butter and chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and blend until uber smooth. Divide mixture equally between three bowls. Mix peanut butter into one bowl until smooth. Mix melted chocolate into a second bowl of mixture.

Pour half of the remaining plain cheesecake mixture onto biscuit base. Top with peanut butter cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake. Use a bamboo skewer or small spoon to swirl the mixture through. Top with remaining plain cheesecake mixture and smooth the top.

Bake for one hour until the top of the cheesecake is just set.

Glaze: Melt cream and chocolate together and gently – very gently – pour over the cooked cheesecake and smooth it out with a palate knife or spatula. Return to oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.

OH SO GOOD!

Frugal factor: low. See ingredient list.

Also: no-bake chocolate peanut butter cake

Chocolate peanut butter no-bake cake

This is seriously the easiest thing ever. It’s also very rich – small servings will last you a few days.

Original recipe here.

200g (7oz) whipping cream
400g (14oz) good quality chocolate (milk or dark)
200g shortbread biscuits (I actually didn’t measure this or the peanut butter – I used what looked like suitable amounts)
150g  peanut butter

METHOD

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan.

Line a loaf pan with baking paper, cling wrap or foil.

Bash or chop chocolate into small chunks and place in a bowl or jug. Add hot cream and stand for 5 minutes.

Stir cream and chocolate until smooth and well combined. Pour enough melted chocolate into the base of the cake to cover the bottom.

Place a layer of shortbread on top. Cover with peanut butter. Add another shortbread layer then drizzle the last of the chocolate over.

Refrigerate overnight.

The cream and dark chocolate mix is out of this world. It’s not too sweet and not too heavy – a divine blend of thick, rich dairy.

Frugal factor: middling. Some stuff you’ll probably need to buy.

6 thoughts on “Adventures in the kitchen: The chocolate peanut butter edition

  • Reply maturestudenthanginginthere May 16, 2012 at 23:58

    This is great, thank you!

  • Reply Michelle May 17, 2012 at 01:25

    Looks really tasty!

  • Reply Sense May 17, 2012 at 02:59

    My easy go-to for dessert is a piece of Whittaker’s peppermint dark choc bar dipped or slathered in amazing PB, like Pic’s. DELISH and ADDICTING. If you think the combo of PB and chocolate is awesome, adding the peppermint makes you want to live inside the PB jar and never ever come out. In a very good way. Whittaker’s dark chocolate peppermint edition is as close to York Peppermint Patties as you can get in NZ! 🙂

    • Reply eemusings May 17, 2012 at 10:04

      Ugh, I hate peppermint (sorry!) I’m very picky about certain things 😀

  • Reply fromshoppingtosaving May 17, 2012 at 06:53

    I’m reading this as my stomach is growling. The icing looks really good… mmmm.

  • Reply Mo' Money Mo' Houses (@momoneymohouses) May 17, 2012 at 06:50

    OMG that looks so yummy!

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