0 Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

I don't know what my problem is. Here I am posting my Hay Hay Donna Day entry at the very last minute AGAIN, just like I did for last month's cheesecake HHDD. I'm not normally a procrastinator but somehow I've been missing a lot of blog events lately. And once the deadline passes, I don't even bother making whatever it was I planned to make. I just mentally move on to the next event and mentally make it in my head and then actually miss the deadline without physically making it and so on and so on. I mean, I haven't participated in Sugar High Friday since September. Yikes, that's 7 months ago! But believe me, I made some fierce pastries for the past 7 SHFs. Too bad they were all in my head!

So I resolved to participate in more blog events and be timely with my posts. But of course life gets in the way of blogging and I continue to be an event slacker. I was sure I wouldn't get my act together in time for the Friday HHDD mousse deadline and begged forgiveness from HHDD hostess and fellow Daring Baker Helene. But thank my lucky stars she extended the deadline!

I decided to make a chocolate peanut butter mousse cake. Since I was taking this cake to my nephew's birthday party, I thought this classic combination would please both the children and the adults. And I wanted to make a mousse without raw eggs since there would be toddlers at the party.

Although it looks like a long recipe, it is actually pretty easy to make. The crust is just crushed Nabisco chocolate wafers held together with some butter. You don't even need to bake the crust. The chocolate mousse is basically melted chocolate with whipped cream folded into it. Easy, right? And the peanut butter mousse is no more difficult than making cake frosting. But it's more like cream cheese frosting with the goodness of peanut butter all suspended in luxurious whipped cream. Maybe it's not as super easy as the chocolate mousse, but it's definitely not hard and definitely well worth it.

I think the hardest part was waiting to taste it at the party. But luckily I made a mini tart by stealing a bit of the crumbs for a tiny tart shell and using the mousse that was left on the sides of the bowls. (I scraped the bowls so clean there was almost no need to wash them!) So I got to sneak a taste before the party and it was so creamy and delicious!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake
(Adapted from Tish Boyle's "The Cake Book")
(makes one 9-inch cake)

Chocolate Wafer Crust
1 1/2 cups (6.3oz) Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer cookie crumbs
4 tbsp (2oz) unsalted butter, melted

Peanut Butter Mousse
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp (1oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (4oz) confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup (7oz) creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Mousse
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup whole milk
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To make the crust:
Lightly butter the bottom of a 9x3 inch springform pan. In a bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and the melted butter until combined. Press the crumbs onto the bottom of the pan in an even layer. Refrigerate the crust while you make the PB mousse.

To make the PB mousse:
In the bowl of a standing mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy, about 1 minute on medium-low speed. Mix in the confectioners' sugar. Add the peanut butter and salt and mix until well blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer and set aside.

In a clean mixer bowl, using the whisk attachment, beat the heavy whipping cream at high speed until soft peaks form. Fold 1 cup of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until almost blended. Fold in another 1 1/2 cups of the whipped cream until completed blended. (Save the remaining whipped cream for making the chocolate mousse.)

Scrape the peanut butter mousse into the prepared pan and spread evenly over the crust. Refrigerate while you make the chocolate mousse.

To make the chocolate mousse:
Place both chocolates in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. Leave the chocolate in the bowl.

Combine the milk and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. With the food processor running, pour the hot milk mixture through the feed tube and process until the chocolate is completely melted. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla, and process until blended. Scrape mixture into a large bowl.

Gently fold one-third of the remaining whipped cream into the chocolate. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream until completely blended. Scrape the chocolate mousse over the peanut butter mousse layer. Loosely cover the cake and freeze for at least 1 hour, until firm.

To serve:
Run a thin-bladed knife under hot water (or dunk into a pitcher of hot water) and wipe dry, run the knife between the cake and the side of the pan to release the cake; reheat the knife as needed. Remove the sides of the springform pan. The cake is ready for serving. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.



Optional: You can also glaze the top of the mousse cake with your favorite bittersweet chocolate glaze. Refrigerate the glazed cake for 1 hour before serving. (Although I think I liked it better without the glaze.)

Thanks to Barbara of Winos and Foodies who started Hay Hay Donna Day with those now famous self frosting cupcakes. And make sure to visit Tartelette Helene to check out the mousse round up and for the voting information.

0 Hay Hay I Almost Missed Donna Day

Hay Hay It's Donna Day was started by Barbara back in November 2005 and has become a highly anticipated event. First there's the announcement of the theme, followed by the round up and then the voting. Yes, voting means that there is a winner. And winning means there is a fabulous Donna related prize and the honor of hosting the next round. Peabody was bestowed that honor for her souffle last month and deemed this HHDD #10 to be all about cheesecake.

For some strange reason I had it in my head that the deadline was on Monday March 19 so I planned to make my cheesecake on Sunday morning. But thankfully I double-checked and found out the deadline is today! I still had time but I had to work fast since the deadline was quickly approaching. My fridge was a bit barren and I only had one 8-ounce package of Philly cream cheese which was definitely not enough to make a 9-inch cheesecake. Since I was whipping this up at the very last minute I didn't want to make a trip to the store. After a quick survey of what I had on hand, I had no choice but to go miniature.

First, I needed the flavor inspiration. I've had a canister of Brown & Haley's Mocha Roca toffee candy in my pantry since Christmas and have always intended to use it for baking. Mocha Roca, a variation of the popular Almond Roca, contains coffee beans, cashews, chocolate and, of course, toffee. I blitzed a few of the candies in my food processor to make something akin to a ground praline.



Now I needed a crust but I had no graham crackers, wafers, or cookies but I had nuts. So I modified a hazelnut crust recipe from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book by substituting cashews to complement the Mocha Roca and prepared only one-third of the crust recipe. The filling part was easy. I made a one-third recipe of my tried and true basic cheesecake filling recipe. I originally planned to just mix the ground candy into the batter so that it would be scattered throughout. But I decided to do layers instead.



My last minute mini Mocha Roca cheesecakes turned out great. The ground toffee candy melted and created a sweet, nutty, coffee bean layer sandwiched between 2 layers of creamy cheesecake. Sprinkling some ground toffee candy on top of the baked cheesecake added some texture and it looks pretty too.



Mini Mocha Roca Cheesecakes
(makes 9 mini cheesecakes)

Crust:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cashew nuts
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter, softened

Filling:
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened at room temp.
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 extra large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp melted butter, cooled
about 1/2 cup ground Mocha Roca toffee candies (unwrap 6 or 7 candies, grind in a food processor)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9 four-ounce capacity wells of a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Place the flour, sugar, cashews, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the cashews are finely ground. Add the butter and process until the dough just comes together. It's okay if it's crumbly.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough into each of the 9 wells and press the dough evenly into the bottom using the back of the tablespoon.

Bake crusts at 350F for about 8-9 minutes or until the edges of the crust start to take on a light golden color. Allow crusts to cool while you make the filling.

Beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add sugar and mix until blended. Mix in egg and vanilla until blended. Mix in melted butter.

Scoop one tablespoon of batter over each crust. Top with 1-2 teaspoons of ground Mocha Roca. (Any leftover ground candy can be used later for decoration.) Top the ground Mocha Roca with one tablespoon of batter. If there's any remaining batter, divide evenly among the 9 cups. (It's okay if the cup is almost filled to the top of the muffin well. They will puff up a bit while baking and then sink down creating a nice little "cup" to hold a dollop of cream or more ground Mocha Roca.)

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the tops begin to crack and the centers are set. Cool completely. (The cheesecakes will sink a bit in the center.)

To serve, peel off the cupcake liner. Top with whipped cream or sprinkle with any leftover ground Mocha Roca.