Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Dark chocolate dreams and peanut butter fudge

I have changed my mind: the best inventions, EVER, are not air conditioning and Advil. It is this product, which I haven't even tasted but just know is the most wonderful stuff ever created for human consumption. I ran across it online this morning after amusing myself with this peanut butter disaster slideshow. You can order it from Peanut Butter & Co.

How wonderful it is, some days, to work in a bookstore and to have access to fun things like The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook, which contains the recipe for Dark Chocolate Dreams. I'm warned that I won't get quite the result that Peanut Butter & Co. can achieve in their commercial kitchen, but it sounds like it's worth taking the risk: To 1 cup of smooth natural peanut butter, add 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, gently melted. They don't say what I should do next, but I assume the final line of the recipe is "Eat it with a spoon."

Here's a recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge from the same book that I will have to try soon. I also MUST plan a visit to Greenwich Village so I can visit Peanut Butter & Co.'s sandwich shop.

5 cups (2 lbs) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup smooth peanut butter

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter and cook to 238 degrees F, soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer, stirring constantly.

2. Pour the fudge into a large heatproof bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the fudge and immediately add the peanut butter. Continue beating just until the fudge loses its gloss and begins to stiffen. Quickly pour the fudge into an 8 x 8-inch square baking dish and allow to cool completely before cutting.

I'll be sure to let you know how it comes out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'll be sure you let YOU know how it comes out...