{delish dish} chocolate peanut butter torte

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
A crunchy, rich peanut butter mousse in an Oreo crust that is topped with a chocolate ganache & peanuts.

It's easy to say that this is a scrumptious & to-die-for dessert! Annie @ Annie's Eats is the master chef behind this recipe adaptation for this peanut butter & chocolate combination goodness - check out her blog for directions & the recipe to create your very own delectable dessert!

*Tip: this is a rich & thick dessert and served with milk would be an added bonus!

Here are my takes on the dessert:



Here's my first attempt at the recipe. I made it for a labor day cookout - cook-in rather since it was raining!






It was sooooo good that I decided to make it for the "bake for a cure" event at work along with my cake pop assortments. I jazzed up the box with a pinkalicious bow & pearls and some pink damask tissue paper as a liner.

Since I consider myself rather a novice & average at my baking skills, I thought I would pass along my tips & techniques for making this torte:
 * Annie already increased the Oreo count for the crust in the recipe instructions, but I felt like it could have even MORE Oreos crushed for the crust. I felt like I had to stretch it to get the crust high. The perfectionist in me wanted the crust to be even on the top, but that didn't end up happening - just smooth the ganache to the sides :) Besides, can you ever have too many Oreos? If you end up with too many, just whip up a few Oreo ball truffles ---yum!

* I didn't use espresso powder in mine because 1. I didn't have any & 2. I couldn't quickly locate it in the store. I am a lover of coffee but not necessarily frozen or coffee-flavored goods so I am not sure how I would feel about it being coffee infused. 

* Cream cheese at room temperature is key for easy mixing - I kept forgetting to set it out!

* I brought the cream to a boil while I started my chocolate melting. I felt as if they came to a boil/melt at the same time.

* I hold a deep appreciation for a KitchenAid mixer and what it does *not that I have one* I didn't have a whisk attachment the first go around for my mixer and had to whisk the whipped cream by hand and lets just say my arm was sore for days!

I hope you find yourself inspired & hungry!

Amanda

{creative} think pink - awareness

This is definitely a fabulous find by very talented Chickabug!





I found this gem featured on HowDoesShe and just had to share it! After the success of their free printable party circle last year, Chickabug saw a need for a printables kit that is as useful as it is pretty. Touches for "real" men are included as well since they wear pink too!






I wanted to share something I made for this cause. My work has a "bake for a cure" every year and all entries are auctioned off with the money going towards BCA research.

I am an avid believer in presentation! I made a set of pink inspired cake & oreo pops/balls (with a few mini ghirardelli brownies thrown in). The cake and frosting combo flavors are strawberry cake/cream cheese, red velvet/cream cheese, and chocolate/chocolate. My lovely boyfriend helped me make a stand and I jazzed it up with some pretty paper & jewels. I had a box for transporting the pops to & fro for the winning bidder - that way none of them fall off during their travels. The hard work paid off - because they were definitely a hit!





Not the forget the boys since they wear pink too! I made a set of cake pops/balls that would appeal to one of their fall interests: football!

Until my cake pop catastophre the night before, I was planning on making Ole Miss and University of Memphis inspired displays, but due to a slight tumble of goods - Ole Miss prevailed ;) You can see the main component of this display peeping from behind - the Ghirardelli brownies cut & decorated like footballs. I made a few cake balls and oreo pops, and my cake pops like the pinterest trending footballs!

I made one more goodie for the bake sale, but I am going to share it with a recipe review later this week! I am working on being better about actually sharing the creative things that I do behind the scenes.

Be inspired and think pink this month!

Amanda