Baked's Peanut Butter Pie

I am very happy to announce that I am now a Baked Baker!

I have joined my first baking group. We are baking our way through the book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Each week, it's someone in the group's turn to select a recipe. On Monday, they post to the blog and let everyone know which recipe they've selected. They also answer some preselected questions to let the other bakers know a little about themselves. Last week, it was my turn to select the recipe. You can read my Monday post here. Then everyone has the entire week to bake the recipe and post all about it, letting everyone know what substitutions or additions you made or any tips you have for the other bakers. For my week I chose the Peanut Butter Pie. This pie came out so professional looking and tasted amazing. You can read about my experience with the recipe here. Also, click here to check out everyone's experience with the pie or browse through the site for recipes done in the past. I can't wait to try out more recipes in the book and am looking forward to making some friends along the way.

Peanut Butter Pie

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Chocolate Cookie Crust

30 chocolate wafer cookies (about 6 oz)

1 Tbs sugar

6 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

In a food processor (or with a rolling pin), grind the cookies to a fine powder. You should have about 1 1/2 cups. Put crumbs in a bowl and add sugar and whisk together. Pour the melted butter over the crumb mixture and mix until well combined. Press into a 9 inch pie dish or spring-form pan. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

Hot Fudge Sauce

6 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped

6 oz dark chocolate (65% cacao), finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Put both chocolates in a medium heatproof bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Add the corn syrup and stir to combine. Remove from heat and pour over chocolates. Let mixture sit for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk the mixture in a circle. Pour about 1/2 cup of hot fudge on chilled crust and spread over the bottom. Pour the rest of the room-temperature fudge in an airtight container for topping the pie later. The leftover fudge will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Peanut Butter Filling

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tbs pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Put the cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until well combined and completely smooth. Set aside. In a clean bowl, use the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment to whip the cream until soft peaks form. Pour whipped cream into peanut butter filling and gently fold in with a rubber spatula until the mixture is uniform in color. Pour mixture into the prepared crust and freeze for 4 hours. Once frozen, cover with foil and freeze for up to 3 days.