You are going to LOVE this recipe....provided you're not one of those people who doesn't like peanut butter except on toast (which is one of the Aussie's issues...nonetheless...even SHE liked this!) This recipe is from Kathy Casey Cooks Favorites - the very same cook book I told you about the other day - with only about 30 recipes in the book - I figure I have a chance at making all of them before my untimely demise...that should go without saying, that my demise would be untimely, but it didn't.
Think of a thick, dense brownie with a slightly gooey center - that's what these little cakes are like. They are baked in an over-sized (Texas-style) muffin pan so you'll only get 6 of them but one of them is almost too big for one person...almost. The peanut butter cream is mouth-watering good - it's kind of like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup on steroids - only better. I think the peanut butter cream would also make a good filling for a cake or a cupcake or a wonderful topping for a chocolate cream pie...really, the possibilities for this delicious cream are endless!
If you're wondering if I have a thing for peanut butter, wonder no more....I definitely do. It's made from peanuts, grown by peanut farmers, like Jimmy Carter, who lusted in his heart and had a brother who peed in front of news cameras ...what's not to like?
Chocolate Peanut Fudge Cakes with Peanut Butter Cream from Kathy Casey Cooks Favorites
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
12 tablespoons ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely chopped, unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
Peanut Butter Cream:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine chocolate, butter and peanut butter in a metal bowl and place over a pot of just-simmering water, or use a double boiler. Stir the mixture until the chocolate and butter are just melted. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, flour, sugar and vanilla until glossy, about 2 minutes. Then, mix in the melted chocolate-butter mixture until just combined. Stir in the peanuts.
Lightly pan-spray and flour oversized muffin pan. Divide the batter into the 6 muffin cups. (Do not fill the cups up to the edge of the pan - leave about 1/2-inch of the cup showing. The cakes will rise a bit but will not overflow the pan.) Bake in the preheated oven for about 34 minutes. The cakes will be slightly gooey in the center. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 8 minutes, then un-pan and cool the cakes right side up on a wire rack.
To make the peanut butter cream, place cream, peanut butter and powdered sugar in a bowl and whip until just softly peaked. Serve cakes while still warm, or totally cool them and individually wrap in plastic wrap until needed. (The cakes keep this way for up to 4 days.) Serve the cakes at room temperature or warm just slightly in the microwave on high power for about 20 to 30 seconds or until just warm. Serve the cakes topped with a dollop of Peanut Butter Cream. Makes 6 individual cakes.
