{Happy Birthday Husband. Photos by Brendan.}
For my husband’s birthday this year, he requested I make Dorie Greenspan’s Peanut Butter Torte. I have her cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours and I love it. A large handful of these recipes have become some of my go-to-favorites.
This Peanut Butter Torte is on pages 283-283 of the book, and it’s been haunting me for awhile now. Mostly because Brendan thought it looked amazing and I thought it looked too time consuming. Chopping peanuts, making ganache, crushing Oreos, folding in homemade whip cream . . . nah. Not tonight. Or tomorrow night . . . or Thursday . . . nope. Not even on Saturday.
But when his birthday came, my husband dropped in this little request. Peanut Butter Torte instead of cake. For my birthday. Please?
I love the guy to the sky and back. He is my most favorite. He does deserve whatever sweet treat he wants for his birthday. But I will admit: I was more than a little grumpy making this. I really wanted to make this instead (my husband really likes peanut butter).
I was more than a little surprised at how well the torte turned out. Not because I doubt the genius of Dorie Greenspan, but because there wasn’t much love in the kitchen while I was making the dessert. I was annoyed at the peanuts for not being milk chocolate shavings. Bugged at the cream cheese peanut butter whip cream filling for not resembling chocolate cake.
Despite my bad attitude, the torte was amazing. Really decadent and divine. I didn’t use coffee powder in my mix, but the addition of nutmeg and cinnamon was so, so right on.
So, maybe I’ll was a little wrong. Tortes are just as celebratory as a birthday cake. A thick layer of ganache is just as wonderful as butter cream frosting. And I do adore my husband, so maybe there was some love in that peanut butter concoction after all.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
umm… i’m drooling.
i seriously want this RIGHT now. thanks for sharing.
i ve been thinking about getting a cookbook by her. & i am not surprised at all that it turned out so beautifully because you, my friend, are the dessert queen. i was just thinking the other night about how i don’t really need to research dessert recipes because i should just ask you. happy birthday brendan!
I’ve searched hi and lo on her site and cannot find the torte. Is it on her site or just her book. It would be worth the book just for this so kudos to hubby.
Come for MY birthday and make this. It looks so delicious! I wont show Shaun. He’ll be completely jealous.
holy crap, veeda.
that looks divine!
can i please have your cooking talent?
i’m sure my husband will appreciate that. a lot.
her torte recipe isn’t on her blog, but I have seen it floating around the internet. You can probably do a search if you wanted to try it out.