Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie: Peanut Butter Torte



My first Tuesdays with Dorie was something that I'd been drooling over for a few weeks now. Peanut Butter Torte with Oreo Cookie Crust, chosen by Elizabeth from Ugg Smell Food. Anyone who knows me knows I have a mega-sweet tooth and that OREOS are the thing that I can eat forever. I typically don't have them in the house and I typically don't buy them either! I could have chosen to do a different, not-as-appealing crust in order to save my waistline, but what fun is that?? I just will do more cardio tomorrow.

I halved the recipe and it was the perfect amout to fill 4 mini springform pans. Food processing the Oreos was easy, even though I only have a mini-processor. What amazed me was that even though I used the entire Oreo, the crumbs were so fine and not sticky at all ...which I assumed they would be from the middle of the Oreo, but it was almost like I just had used the outsides. What is up with THAT?



The crust took a while to make, and was more challenging than I expected until I figured out a little trick to pressing the crust in...doing the sides first with the pan at an angle and pressing up from the curve of the pan...and then filling in the middle and pressing it down and up towards the sides.

I ran out of the chopped Oreos I had food processed right with just the bottom of one mini pan to go, so I just quickly mortar and pestled some Oreos in a bowl and got chubby chunks of them which I pressed into the bottom of the pan, kind of like a pebbled Oreo crust, looked kinda cool! The sides are normal...this is the one I kept for us since if it came out weird I didn't want anyone to see it HAHA. Froze them for 10 min, baked at 350 for 10 minutes, let them cool while we ate dinner.



Mixed up the peanut butter mousse which is heavy cream, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, chopped peanuts and mixture of cinnamon, chopped chocolate, nutmeg. Everything went well with the recipe...the mousse filler was just amazing.







I put a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg than the recipe called for and slightly less chocolate. It had a little more kick to it which I love.



Filled the pans, and let them chill in the fridge overnight.

I thought about topping the mousse with another thin layer of chopped Oreos before ganaching, but I'd already eaten them all, oh well! The ganache went on very easily, funny how sometimes my ganache comes out and other times it definitely doesn't. Unmolding them was easy using the 10 second hot towel trick from Dorie's book.


Some mini pb cups for toppers. Taste? Oh yeah, AMAZING. Peanut Butter, Oreos, and Chocolate?? Do you really have to ask? The original recipe can be found on Elizabeth's blog. I used less lightly salted peanuts, more cream cheese, more PB, and a little more butter for the Oreos.

When I brought this thing into work, my coworkers were insane with glee. I would def make it again esp for something like a party since it's such a people pleaser, but now that I have done it with no 'cheats' (well other than 1/3 less fat cream cheese since that's all I had in the fridge)...I would try making the crust with something a little lighter as there is a whopping 1/3 of the calories and fat SOLELY in the crust.



Which it's not like this is a healthy dessert regardless, but each individual sprinformed mini was about 1100-1200 calories. Cut into 5 pieces that's doable for a treat, but if you ate the whole thing? Yikes.

18 comments:

Honeyed Hashette said...

This looks fantastic! Rich, creamy, peanut buttery! How big are the mini spring forms?
I need a better visual on how much I am getting for ingesting 1100 calories with 1 dessert. :)

marae said...

They are 4" and 3/4" deep or something like that. More like 2-3 can share...but they call them individ!!

Half Baked said...

Love the mini tortes! I've made this torte before and it's great. I'll have to try making this indivually.

noskos said...

Welcome to TWD! You did great on your first recipe!!

Di said...

I've been trying not to think too hard about the number of calories. =) I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe--your torte looks yummy, especially with the peanut butter cups on top. Welcome to the group!

Gretchen Noelle said...

This looks just adorable! I love the mini form and the mini PB cups on top just make it!! Love it!

Anonymous said...

Great photos! We did minis too but had a hell of a time with the lighting, yours definitely look very nice!

Heather B said...

Great job! Looks delicious!

Gigi said...

Beautiful mini tortes Mara! I'm with you, I could eat Oreos forever, but then I wouldn't be able to button my jeans. That's the sole reason I never buy them or keep them in the house.

marae said...

Thanks for the sweet comments and welcome, everyone!!

This thing was RICH RICH RICH. I split one of the small individuals *seven* ways today to share with coworkers. Even though the pieces were very small, everyone pronounced it just the right portion due to how rich the taste was. I can't imagine a 9" pan with 2"+ sides split into 8-9 portions.

I had a top compliment today from a gal who has a very sweet tooth and eats lots of desserts and cupcakes and said that this was her second fave dessert in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. And she eats a lot of my stuff and is complimentary. So ..wow!

Gigi...I feel the same way about my jeans and Oreos hence why we never have them in the house. So sad!

Chez US...do you have a link for yours, I'd love to see them!! I haven't come across any other mini's yet.

Anonymous said...

Oreos are very dangerous. I promised myself I wouldn't eat any while making the crust. That didn't work out so well...
The peanut butter cups are a fabulous touch.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to TWD! Great Job!
Looks like you're gonna fit right in with the crowd!
Your mini tortes are adorable! I was undecided whether or not to use mini PB cups or Oreos. I chose the Oreos, but I like yours better!

Anonymous said...

I love 'em!! :) Especially, the tops - what a clever idea w/ the mini PB cups!!

mimi said...

great first challenge, wonderful looking torte! i love the mini size.

marae said...

thanks ladies!

bakingwiththeboys...ha ha i hear you..my husband came home and was like 'where are the oreos?!?'

donna..i LOVE your oreo decor! i actually made one of the mini tortes with a mini oreo in the center too...it was ours!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Love the mini tortes and welcome to the group!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

I wish I had more friends and relatives! I want to participate in TWD, but with Cupcake Hero, Daring Bakers, and my own weekly cupcakes, I don't have enough people to give my baked goods to. They end up sitting around until the remainders get thrown away. :(

Anyway, the Sprinkles cupcakes were just regular size. Maybe I just have small hands! LOL If you do make red velvets, use the recipe I linked to on cupcakeblog.com. It's perfect!

Melissa said...

Welcome! Beautiful photos!!!