I’ve been wanting to make a somewhat scaled down version of this cake for some time now. Scaled down, as the regular version is supposed to make 24 servings! Now I had a little trouble believing the 24 servings part, but SQWIB did say that nobody could eat more than one piece, and it didn’t look like the slices were all that big. More on that later.
I haven’t included the recipe. You can find it in SQWIB’s original post here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/154276/peanut-butter-brownie-cake#post_1538083
Since it was Miss Linda’s birthday, I decided to make it as a birthday cake. Now, it’s pretty obvious I’m definitely not a pastry chef, as it took me basically all day to make this desert. I also discovered that icing a cake with a full sized rubber scraper is a bad idea—it took me as long to clean up the cake plate and make it presentable as it took to ice the cake.
I had already planned to make only 2 layers of brownie and 1 layer of peanut butter mixture. Good thing too, as it is an unbelievably rich desert!!!
As I said, it was Miss Linda’s birthday cake, so I used the heart shaped pans, completely lined with parchment paper. First up, I made the peanut butter filling, and put it in the freezer for 3 hours to firm up. I obviously should have packed it a lot tighter, as it was pretty crumbly when the cake was finished—didn’t photograph very nicely--kinda looks like a cork board.
Then it was time for the brownies. I have to admit that I got lazy and cheated somewhat (somewhat????) at this stage. I used a prepackaged brownie mix (2 packages actually)—Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie. FYI it makes fantastic brownies.
The mix was put into 2 heart shaped pans (fully lined with parchment paper) and baked. Then the brownies were put on racks to cool before assembly.
While they were cooling, I mixed up the icing. I made the full recipe of icing, as SQWIB had mentioned that they ran out. It turned out to be way too much. After icing the cake, this is what was left over—that’s a normal sized coffee mug beside the container.
Now it’s time for the assembly. First a layer of brownie, topped with icing.
Then the peanut butter layer, topped with icing.
Then the second layer of brownie.
Then a nice thick coating of icing all over.
Added a few mini Reese’s Pieces as decorations.
And, of course, what’s a birthday cake without candles?
Cleanup was a real breeze.
A shot of the cake after I had plated a dainty slice each. It’s pretty obvious that the peanut butter mix needed more cream for moisture, and should have been packed a lot tighter—not real pretty. I cut us each a normal (for us) sized piece, but neither one of us was able to eat the whole serving. That’s NEVER happened before!! Not real sure just why, but I'm afraid my cake isn't anywhere near as pretty as the one the ladies made for SQWIB.
This is a truly delicious cake, but Lord is it rich!! Just as an example, the icing alone had 1½ pounds of butter and 2½ cups of icing sugar. It is RICH. RICH. RICH. Oh, by the way, did I mention just how rich this cake is?
We loved it.
So if you want a truly decadent desert, we would both highly recommend you try this cake. It is delicious!!!!
Hats off to SQWIB. I would give him another well deserved POINT, but I guess one is all I’m allowed to give.
Thanks for looking.
Gary
I haven’t included the recipe. You can find it in SQWIB’s original post here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/154276/peanut-butter-brownie-cake#post_1538083
Since it was Miss Linda’s birthday, I decided to make it as a birthday cake. Now, it’s pretty obvious I’m definitely not a pastry chef, as it took me basically all day to make this desert. I also discovered that icing a cake with a full sized rubber scraper is a bad idea—it took me as long to clean up the cake plate and make it presentable as it took to ice the cake.
I had already planned to make only 2 layers of brownie and 1 layer of peanut butter mixture. Good thing too, as it is an unbelievably rich desert!!!
As I said, it was Miss Linda’s birthday cake, so I used the heart shaped pans, completely lined with parchment paper. First up, I made the peanut butter filling, and put it in the freezer for 3 hours to firm up. I obviously should have packed it a lot tighter, as it was pretty crumbly when the cake was finished—didn’t photograph very nicely--kinda looks like a cork board.
Then it was time for the brownies. I have to admit that I got lazy and cheated somewhat (somewhat????) at this stage. I used a prepackaged brownie mix (2 packages actually)—Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie. FYI it makes fantastic brownies.
The mix was put into 2 heart shaped pans (fully lined with parchment paper) and baked. Then the brownies were put on racks to cool before assembly.
While they were cooling, I mixed up the icing. I made the full recipe of icing, as SQWIB had mentioned that they ran out. It turned out to be way too much. After icing the cake, this is what was left over—that’s a normal sized coffee mug beside the container.
Now it’s time for the assembly. First a layer of brownie, topped with icing.
Then the peanut butter layer, topped with icing.
Then the second layer of brownie.
Then a nice thick coating of icing all over.
Added a few mini Reese’s Pieces as decorations.
And, of course, what’s a birthday cake without candles?
Cleanup was a real breeze.
A shot of the cake after I had plated a dainty slice each. It’s pretty obvious that the peanut butter mix needed more cream for moisture, and should have been packed a lot tighter—not real pretty. I cut us each a normal (for us) sized piece, but neither one of us was able to eat the whole serving. That’s NEVER happened before!! Not real sure just why, but I'm afraid my cake isn't anywhere near as pretty as the one the ladies made for SQWIB.
This is a truly delicious cake, but Lord is it rich!! Just as an example, the icing alone had 1½ pounds of butter and 2½ cups of icing sugar. It is RICH. RICH. RICH. Oh, by the way, did I mention just how rich this cake is?
We loved it.
So if you want a truly decadent desert, we would both highly recommend you try this cake. It is delicious!!!!
Hats off to SQWIB. I would give him another well deserved POINT, but I guess one is all I’m allowed to give.
Thanks for looking.
Gary
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