Stay Cool And Make Truffles

Chocolate truffles are easy to make and don't heat up the kitchen!

Don't get me wrong, I love and always will love baking — it's just that heating up the oven isn't quite as appealing in an 85-degree kitchen without air conditioning.

Good thing there is still a way to stay cool while whipping up some killer sweet treats. Homemade truffles are a great summer dessert alternative because you can use a microwave to heat the heavy cream for the ganache and you can get creative with the use of different flavorings and coatings.

For my recent batch of truffles, I added espresso powder to a dark chocolate ganache and rolled them in three different coatings — toasted walnuts, toasted coconut and dark cocoa powder.

Another option is to coat the truffles in melted chocolate and sprinkle the tops with nuts, candied fruit, colorful sugars, crushed espresso beans or fine sea salt...just about anything works.

The only hard rule is that if you want to add a flavoring the ganache, be certain to use alcohol-based extracts, not water-based, or your chocolate will seize. Flavorful alcohols like Kahlua, Amaretto, Grand Marnier and Kirsch work really well.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Truffles 
1 pound of chocolate, chopped or in chip form (My favorite is dark chocolate but milk or a combination of dark and milk also works.)
1 cup of heavy cream
alcohol based flavoring or 1 tablespoon espresso powder, optional

Place the chocolate in a mixing bowl.

Heat the cream in the microwave in 30-second intervals until it is simmering, stirring between intervals. Watch the cream closely so that it doesn't boil over. In my microwave the cream was simmering in just 90 seconds.

Pour the simmering cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. This is the time if you choose, to add flavorings to the ganache, just make sure the flavoring is alcohol-based. Water and chocolate do not mix! Set the mixture aside to cool until it's firm and scoopable. This takes about 1 hour. You can put the mixture in the fridge to speed the process.

When it's ready, scoop portions of the ganache onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I used a 1-inch ball scoop for the task. Place the scoops of ganache in the refrigerator on a parchement lined sheetpan to chill for 20 to 30 minutes to firm them up enough so that you can use your hands to roll them into balls.

The scoops of ganache before chilling.

After the chilling, the scoops of ganache were easy to roll into balls.

After rolling the truffles into balls, roll them in the coating of your choice or dip them into melted chocolate.  I chose to roll them dark cocoa powder, chopped toasted walnuts and shredded coconut.

Rolling a truffle in chopped walnuts. You have to work quickly and get the truffle back into the fridge as soon as possible. Once chilled, place the truffles in candy papers and keep them stored in the refrigerator  until you are ready to serve.

Chocolate Sheetcake

I needed to make a super-sized dessert to serve at the Wednesday Community Meal tomorrow and so I created this moist chocolate sheetcake. I love making sheetcakes because they come together quickly and because you serve them right from the pan, they are a breeze to frost since they require just a top coat.

I made a double batch of the recipe for my extra large 13 x 19 -pan and after the cake cooled, frosted it with buttercream that will be very hard to recreate.  I had some raspberry and salted caramel buttercreams in my freezer left over from making macarons, so I added to those to a package of cream cheese, a stick of unsalted butter, vanilla, a cup of cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and whipped it until it was smooth and creamy. My nephew who is my official taste tester said "oh, that's gooood," when he took a taste.

It's fun getting creative and using leftovers to make something special. And really, just about any frosting would be great with this easy cake.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Sheetcake 
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cocoa powder
2 teaspoons espresso powder
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 large eggs

Grease and flour a 11 x 17 baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In another medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer, whip together the butter, sugars and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whip after each addition until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.

Alternately add the flour and cocoa/water mixture in three additions, beating after each on low speed until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan before frosting. Enjoy!

Pretzel Rolls

My husband Joe gets credit for these delicious and easy Pretzel Rolls because a few nights ago he asked me to make homemade garden burgers for dinner and headed off to the grocery store to get hamburger buns.

From the store he texted me, "I'm craving pretzel rolls and they don't have any." A few minutes later he sent me a link to a pretzel bread recipe from the allrecipes.com site. 

I texted him back, "Do you want me to make pretzel rolls for the gardenburgers?"

He immediately replied, "Want to? I bet they'd be kickass."

With that kind of encouragement, how could I say no?

By the time he got home from the store, the dough was already rising. This was such an easy recipe that I couldn't even earn bonus points for it being an imposition.

The dough comes together quickly and after it rises and doubles in bulk (this takes about 45 minutes) then you just need to shape the rolls, boil and bake them. The boiling step is what makes them pretzel rolls because the dip in baking soda infused hot water before baking is what creates that dark pretzel crust and flavor. Soft pretzels are made this way and bagels are boiled too but without the addition of baking soda.

I'm so glad Joe had a craving for a burger on a pretzel roll and found the recipe for me. I did make a few changes from the original since I happen to have pretzel making experience. I skipped adding an egg wash, I added a sprinkling of sea salt to the tops before baking and when I boiled the rolls I used the baking soda and water ratio I've always used — 1 tablespoon of baking soda to every cup of water. The recipe wanted me to boil 3 quarts of water and add 3/4 a cup of soda. Even though baking soda is cheap, I couldn't bring myself to use that much. I used 6 cups of water and 6 tablespoons of baking soda.

Here's the recipe:

Pretzel Buns
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 envelope yeast
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
3 cups flour
Additional flour as needed
baking soda
sea salt

Heat the butter and milk in a sauce pan until it is warm and the butter is melted. Remove it from the heat and transfer it to a large mixing bowl. When the mixture cools to between 105 and 115-degrees F, add the yeast, brown sugar and salt and stir until the yeast dissolves.

Adding the yeast, sugar and salt to the warm milk and butter mixture.

Once the yeast has dissolved, add the flour to the milk mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

Add enough additional flour to knead it into a soft dough.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in bulk. This takes about 45 minutes.

After the dough has doubled, it will look like this.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and divide the dough into eight pieces.

Shape the pieces of dough into rounds and flatten them.

Bring a sauce pan of water and baking soda to a simmer. For every cup of water, add 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Also, have a greased or parchment lined and greased baking sheet ready. Boil the rolls a few at a time for 1 minute, then flip them and boil for another minute. Use a slotted spoon to lift them out of the water and shake off excess water.

Place the boiled rolls on the prepared baking sheet.

Use a serrated knife to add a deep cross on top of each roll and sprinkle each with a touch of sea salt. Bake the rolls at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temp to 350 and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the rolls are dark brown and done.

Eat the rolls warm with mustard just like a pretzel or let them cool and slice them for burgers and sandwiches. These are best consumed within a day of making them.

Golden Peach Muffins

Ten-year-old Gabriella demonstrating how to make Golden Peach Muffins at this year's Kittias County Fair in Ellensburg, Washington.

I just returned from a weekend trip to the Kittitas County Fair in Ellensburg, Washington, my hometown.

Every Labor Day Weekend, I  always look forward to staying at my parent's house and attending the fair with my husband and daughters who have grown to love it as much as I do.

The county fair may be small but it's lots of fun and being there brings back so many fond memories and some of my best memories are of being in 4-H with my sister. We got to work at the 4-H food booth selling hotdogs, we entered baked goods and sewing projects and gave food demonstrations. One year I demonstrated how to make no-bake cookies and my sister demonstrated how to properly set a table.

This year my husband and I caught a demonstration by a 10-year-old named Gabriella who made Golden Peach Muffins. After they had baked, she handed out samples and they were really good — moist, peachy and not too sweet. The muffins were made with canned peaches and were quick to make which got me thinking that they would be ideal for busy mornings like today, the first day of school here in Portland, Oregon.

Here is Gabriella's recipe:

Golden Peach Muffins
(makes 1 dozen)
 1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 can (15 1/4 oz)  sliced peaches, drained and finely chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs with the oil and the vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick). Fold in peaches.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Petite Pies

Move over cake balls.  I've created Petite Pies, a new mini dessert that I'm anxious to share with you.

When I first made the berry-filled treats for my family earlier this week, they went absolutely bonkers for them. The next day, my daughter shared a few with her friends, causing one of them to tell her, "that's the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!"

Petite Pies came about because I'm making treats for the October 25th performance of my friend Sharon Whitney's acclaimed play, "Eleanor Roosevelt-Across a Barrier of Fear." Eleanor's favorite dessert was pie so I wanted to make a pie treat that would be small and easy to eat without a fork or napkin.

The secret to making them is a really good berry filling that is precooked so that the juices don't run all over and make a mess as you are assembling them.

The crust is just my favorite shortening pie crust that I rolled and cut with a 3-inch round cookie cutter. After baking the pies, I drizzled them with a glaze.

I'm anxious to experiment with other fillings. When a pie is this small of a size, you can enjoy more than three before even coming close to eating the equivalent of a slice of pie.

Following is the recipe if you'd like to try making them. Or, you can have a taste if you attend the Friday night performance of "Eleanor Roosevelt-Across a Barrier of Fear."

Here are the details to reserve a seat:

Trinitarian Sharon Whitney's acclaimed play, "Eleanor Roosevelt-Across a Barrier of Fear," starring Jane Van Boskirk, is scheduled for two performances, Friday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 26 at 1:00 p.m. in Kempton Hall. To reserve a seat, visit www.trinity-episcopal.org. Seating is limited. A $10 donation at the door is suggested. This is an offering from the Cathedral Arts Committee.  


Petite Pies
(makes approximately 36 to 40)

Berry Filling:
1 16 ounce bag frozen mixed berries
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup heavy cream

In a medium-sized saucepan combine the berries, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently and breaking apart the berries.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and cream. Add this to the simmering berry mixture and continue cooking, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.

Pie Crust:
4 cups flour
1 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
A glass of cold water

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and using your fingers break it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

This is what the flour and shortening mixture should look like before adding the water.

Add the water, about 1/4 cup at a time until a soft dough can be formed. Be sure to use enough water since a moist pie dough is much easier to roll out than a dry one. A moist dough is also more malleable and you'll appreciate this when it comes to forming the pies.

Divide the dough in half and roll out each half on a well-floured surface until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut 3-inch rounds using a cutter or glass. Place the rounds on parchment-lined sheetpans. Continue rolling until you've  used all the dough.

Keep cutting rounds until you've used all the dough.

To assemble and bake:
 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each round. Using your fingers, pull the dough up over the sides of the filling and pinch it together.

Filling on the dough.

The pies after shaping.

Bake the Petite Pies for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 20 to 25 minutes or until the pies are golden brown.

To Glaze:
As soon as the pies are out of the oven, make a glaze by mixing 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 4 teaspoons of milk. Whisk the glaze until it is smooth and drizzle it over the pies. The glaze will set as the pies cool.

Just glazed Petite Pies. The glaze will harden as the pies cool.

Rhubarb Berry Crumb Bars

Placing the finished bars in cupcake liners made them easy to serve.

I made these Rhubarb Berry Crumb bars to sell at the Springsteen Tribute Concert and they were so easy and such a hit that I have to share the recipe.

I found a recipe called Blueberry Crumb Bars online on the allrecipes.com site. The recipe was rated 4.5 out of 5 stars and there was a note at the top that said "you can use any berry you like." I love a tried and true and versatile recipe.

Because I added a healthy dose of tart rhubarb to the recipe thanks to my sister's jumbo rhubarb crop, I increased the sugar in the filling mixture by 1/4 cup and the cornstarch by 1 teaspoon. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt which I believe enhances the flavor of rhubarb.

Rhubarb Berry Crumb Bars

Crumb Mixture:
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:
3 cups berries (I used a combination of blueberry, raspberry and blackberry and frozen works just fine)
1 cup rhubarb, finely diced
3/4 cup sugar
4 heaping teaspoons cornstarch
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a medium sized bowl make the crumb mixture by combining the sugar, baking powder, flour and cinnamon. Add the shortening and break it into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. I like to use my fingers to do this. Add the egg, mix well and set aside.

In another bowl, make filling by adding all the ingredients and mixing well.

To Assemble:
Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the greased pan. Spread the filling evenly over the bottom layer. Crumble the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the filling layer.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Be sure to let the bars cool completely before cutting.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband said he was craving something sweet this evening and challenged me to make "the best chocolate chip cookie ever."

I knew just what I had to do — use the best dark chocolate chips and a combination of real butter and shortening. The butter adds flavor and makes a crispy cookie and the shortening adds chewiness. 

For the chocolate I used Callebaut Belgian chocolate chips. I prefer this brand because they are smooth and melt in your mouth. With other brands of dark chocolate I sometimes find I like the flavor but the chips don't have that creamy melt in your mouth consistency.

My favorite brand of dark chocolate chips.

The cookies came together fast and as soon as they were out of the oven and had cooled a bit, my husband had two in his hand.

"I give these a 12.5 out of 10," he said. Yeah! — Mission accomplished.

My happy husband.

Here's the recipe:

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 large eggs
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter, shortening and sugars.

Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again.

Add the salt, baking soda and flour and mix until well combined.

Add the chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1 1/4 -inch balls and place on a parchment lined or nonstick cookie sheet 2-inches apart.

Cookies ready to bake.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool a bit before moving to a cooling rack.

Cinnamon Coffeecake

This is the easiest coffeecake to make.

It takes just 5 minutes to mix up and 40 minutes to bake.

Baking it makes your house smell wonderful and is just the thing to lure late sleepers out of their beds.

Cinnamon Coffeecake

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and shortening in a bowl. Crumble the ingredients together just like you would if you were making a pie crust.

Remove 1/3 cup of the crumbs for the topping. Add the cinnamon to this and set aside.

In another bowl combine the milk with the yogurt and baking soda. Mix well.

Add this to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour in to a greased 9-inch square baking dish. Sprinkle the cinnamon crumb mixture on top and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

French Bread

I have a wonderful recipe for French bread that I've been making for more than 20 years.

I don't even remember how or from whom I got the recipe. At some point, I did have the smarts to print it onto a sheet of paper.

There are also side notes for multiplying the recipe by five since I like to make it for the Wednesday Community Meal. For that, I usually make 10 batches of the recipe times five and still always run out because it's a great recipe and everyone loves homemade bread.

My bread recipe.

 French Bread
(makes 4 loaves)
2 packages yeast
2/3 cup tepid water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
7 cups bread flour (additional may be needed)
2 tablespoons rye or whole wheat flour
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups cold water
(cornmeal for sprinkling on sheet pan or parchment paper)

Combine yeast, sugar and tepid water. Let set for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes the yeast foams and proves that it's alive.

Combine the remaining ingredients then add yeast mixture. Knead.

Let rise 40 to 60 minutes in a clean, dry bowl. Then deflate and punch into a 14-inch rectangle and fold into thirds.

Return dough to bowl and let rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Make loaves and let rise another  1 1/2 hours.

Place loaves on baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal or lined with parchment paper, slash and place in a preheated 450 degree oven tossed with 1/4 cup of water. Bake 20 minutes and then bake an additional 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Slashing the loaves just before baking.

Warm bread!

Sasquatch Sustenance

This is the third Memorial Day weekend in a row that my husband, our oldest daughter Una and few of her friends are off enjoying the Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheater near George, Washington.

My daughter looks forward to the festival every year and says part of the fun is enduring the rudimentary overnight camping conditions — row after row of tents, portapotties and that's about it.
 I'm so glad it's my husband and not me who is taking her.


For food, they rely on no-cook portable fare so I thought I could at least treat them to a big batch of homemade energy bars.

The bars are better than anything you can buy and full of healthy whole grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit. If there's a nut or fruit that you don't like, just substitute it with something else. And, the cinnamon can be replaced with other flavorings. Ginger and dried cherries go really well together.
The options are endless.

Una and her friend Bo are all set for the music festival with energy bars and their Sasquatch mascot.

 
Energy Bars
(makes 24 bars)

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup flax seeds
2/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pitted dates, chopped
1 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix all the ingredients except the eggs and maple syrup in a large bowl.  In a food processor, process the mixture in batches until it is finely chopped.  You process it in batches so that you don't overload the food processor.

Combine all the finely chopped ingredients and add the maple syrup and eggs. Mix until it holds together. Press it evenly into the baking dish and bake for 25 minutes or until it is lightly brown and firm to the touch. Immediately cut into bars and let cool in the pan before removing.


These bars keep for weeks in the refrigerator and even freeze well. Keep them on hand for a healthy snack or meal on the run.

Healthy energy bars ready to be enjoyed.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Here are the Red Velvet Cupcakes I just baked for a graduation party tomorrow.

Cupcakes are a smart choice for parties because they are easy to serve — no slicing and plating required!

And, they can be baked a day in advance. I won't frost them with cream cheese icing until right before the party. I'll post the final results tomorrow.

I like my recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes because the batter is nice and thick which makes it so much easier to put into the cupcake papers.  Filling cupcake papers can be torture! — Messy and frustrating!

With thick batters that thankfully don't drip like this recipe, I just use a large spoon.  For thinner cupcake batters, I've found that a pitcher with a sturdy spout works best.

The pitcher I like to use when filling cupcake papers with thinner cupcake batters.

But don't worry about that for this recipe. That's why I love it! It's delicious and a breeze to portion out.

Cupcakes that are ready to be baked.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ounce red food coloring
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, add vanilla and mix well. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, sour cream, food coloring and buttermilk. Mix well.

Add salt and baking soda. Mix well.

Add cocoa powder and flour and mix just until blended. Don't over mix.

Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes or until done.

"The Greatest and Easiest" Chocolate Cake

Two chocolate cakes moist enough to be eaten as is or as I prefer — stacked with a peanut butter filling and chocolate buttercream.

 Sometimes the best recipes aren't in cookbook — They're on a package.

Nestle Toll House Cookies, Rice Krispie Treats, Kellogg's Bran Muffins — you know what I mean.

And now add another bona fide hit to those — "The Greatest and Easiest Chocolate Cake" from the package of Trader Joe's cocoa powder.

When I saw the title, I was immediately intrigued. Well, I've made it many times and it's no lie. It's a fabulous chocolate cake and it is indeed easy.


You put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides once during mixing. Pour into your prepared pans or cupcake cups and that's all there is to it.

But, there is one very very important thing you should know and it's not included with the recipe.  This "dump and blitz" method is only easy if you have a 7 quart bowl (mine is 5 quarts) for your stand mixer or use a big deep bowl and a hand mixer.

Too small of a bowl = big mess!

This cake is so moist, there's no need for icing but if you must, here's the way I like to do it.

I like two layers of peanut butter filling before a final coat of chocolate buttercream. 

"The Greatest and Easiest" Chocolate Cake 

with Peanut Butter Filling 

and Chocolate Buttercream  

Cake:

3 1/3 cups flour

1 1/3 cups cocoa powder

3 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoons salt

12 ounces butter 

3 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans that are at least 3-inches deep. (Note: For my cake, I used 2 round 8-inch pans that were 4 inches deep.)

Place all ingredients in electric mixer bowl and beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl once during mixing. Pour into prepared pans. Bake cakes for about 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Filling:

1 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/3 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, whip peanut butter and butter together. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Finally add milk and beat just until the filling comes together and is spreadable. Don't over beat.

Chocolate Buttercream:

3 large egg whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of fine sea salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder, dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water, cooled

1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces, melted and cooled

Place the whites in a clean mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and cream of tartar.

Place bowl over a double boiler on medium heat, stir frequently until the mixture is very hot (120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit).

Move to mixer and whip whites on high for 2 to 3 minutes; turn down to medium low until cool (use the bowl as your guide).

In a separate bowl with a wooden spoon, stir butter to soften.

With mixer on medium/high speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon just as the previous one is blended in. Once all the butter incorporated, add in vanilla, salt, coffee and chocolate whip on high speed until fluffy.

Garnish: 

1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed

3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped fine

Chopping the chocolate for garnish

To Assemble:

Once cakes have cooled, set one layer on a serving platter and top with 1/2 the peanut butter filling. 

Add the second layer and top with the remaining filling. Chill the cake until the filling is set.

Frost with the chocolate buttercream and garnish with the peanuts and dark chocolate.

Frosting the cake.

Ready to eat!