Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Over the weekend I made four mini fruit tarts,* which only used half of my pastry dough recipe. The other half I wrapped in plastic and stuck in the freezer for a later use.Later came sooner, and yesterday I decided to treat Kevin to one of his favorite desserts: a chocolate peanut butter tart. Well, I actually made chocolate peanut butter tartlets, since I didn't have enough dough made to cover an entire pie pan. I think they were even cuter this way!

1/2 basic pastry dough
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 cup roasted peanuts

Preheat over to 375. Roll out pastry dough and divide among four four-inch round tart pans. Cover each tart shell with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minuets. Remove from refrigerator, poke the bottom of the tart shells a few times with a fork, cover with aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights.* Bake tarts for 10 minutes. Remove pie weights and foil. Bake for another 3 minutes.

Place peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat ingredients together until creamy. Set a side.

Create a double boiler by placing a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Add chocolate to the bowl and allow to melt. Whisk in cream and remove from heat.

To assemble the tarts, remove tart shells from the pans. Pour one tablespoon of chocolate into each tart shell. Gently swirl chocolate around to coat the bottom and sides of the pastry. Divide the peanut butter mixture evenly among each tart. Spread to make even. Top the peanut butter with chopped peanuts. Drizzle the remaining chocolate over the top of each tart. Refrigerate until chocolate sets.

* I'll post the super easy recipe for that one soon. I promise.
** No need to invest in pie weights. I use dried beans. The same quart of black-eyed peas has been cooked over and over again for almost ten years.

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