Homemade Peanut Butter Cups - and Brownies !

Love peanut butter cups ? Well - you'll ADORE mine !

Not only are these easy to make, but they knock spots off store bought and look fantastic as part of a chocolate box or on top of cupcakes, brownies etc.

To make approx 45 peanut butter cups, you will need :

3 x 15 cell chocolate / caramel cup wheel silicone mould

150g belgian milk chocolate (preferably couverture)
100g crunchy peanut butter

50g salted butter - at room temperature

100 > 125g of icing (powdered) sugar

200g belgian white chocolate

70mls of double cream (scalded)

coloured sprinkes to decorate

First of all, put the milk chocolate in a plastic bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 30 second bursts, stirring each time. When the chocolate is about 3/4 melted, take out and just keep stirring until it is all melted and you cannot feel it if touching a tiny bit to your upper lip.

The good thing about melting couverture chocolate this way is that as long as the chocolate does not get too warm, it will stay in temper. Out of temper chocolate goes horrible - either 

Use a small paintbrush with non-shedding bristles (kept for kitchen use only) and coat the sides of each cell in chocolate. Allow to start to harden, then make a second coat. Excuse the rubbish photo from my mobile !

After making a second coat of chocolate, place the mould upside down on a cooling rack. This allows the chocolate to settle nicely on the inside and gives a nice even coating.

Once the chocolate starts to set, pop the moulds in the fridge for about 10 mins or so, so the chocolate gets really hard whilst you make the filling.

Put the peanut butter and butter in a bowl and whip until creamy. Add the icing sugar and beat some more until thick, but fairly smooth. If it's a bit like rubble, add a tiny amount of boiling water (approx 1 tablespoon will do)

Put into a disposable piping bag, and pipe a little of this mixture to a couple of mm below the top of the cell. You can then seal the top of the chocolates with some more melted milk chocolate, or make the whipped white chocolate ganache....

For the white chocolate ganache, scald the cream in a pot on the stove - or in a bowl in the microwave. Pour the hot cream over the chopped white chocolate. If it doesn't totally melt, pop the bowl of chocolate and scalded cream in the microwave and stir every few seconds until melted.

Take out the microwave and allow to cool for a few minutes, then using a hand held electric whisk, beat until the ganache starts to hold in peaks. It can now be piped on top of your chocolates and decorated with a few sprinkles.

Theses are so cute, they're irresistible.....

So - what can be better, but to pair them with some thick fudgey frosting and seriously delicious, decadent peanut butter cup brownies ? I wouldn't waste the homemade peanut butter cups in the batter though - far easier to use Reese's for baking.

RECIPE - makes 9 large brownies

For this, you need an 8" square silicone pan / mould, lightly buttered.

Pre-heat oven to 180deg C

175g of salted butter

175g of dark chocolate

3 large eggs
300g sugar
2 tsp instant coffee granules
60g cocoa powder
75g plain flour
226g pouch of Reeses Mini Peanut Butter cups - or other candy if preferred

Melt the butter and chocolate together with the coffee granules in a large pot.

Combine eggs and sugar together until just combined. Add into pot and whisk with electric whisk. Add dry ingredients and then whisk again for a short time until combined and no lumps can be seen,

Place the 8" square silicone baking pan on to a tray and use a silicone spatula to scrap the mix into the prepared pan. Pop in the peanut butter cups and press into the batter. Keep the candies 1 > 2cm away from the sides of the mould (as this bit will get trimmed off later)

Bake in middle shelf of the oven for approx 35 mins. The outside should all be set, but it will still be a little wet and have a bit of a wobble in the middle.

Remove and leave to cool, then refrigerate over night before cutting.

When chilled and firm, the brownie will release easily from the silicone pan.

Simply bend the sides down and lift out the brownie.

Place on a cutting board, and using a sharp knife, trim the outsides of the brownie off.

Cut remaining brownie into 9 squares.

FROSTING AS SHOWN

100g of Sunpat ChocoNut Spread, 75g of butter, icing sugar (quite a lot) and a little hot water - whipped together until a fudge like consistency achieved.

Pipe a swirl on top of each brownie square and top with a homemade peanut butter cup.

Sarah-Jane Nash - www.siliconemoulds.com

Some New Moulds & Crafting With Oliver

Aren't these CUTE ? 

We had 60,000 silicone bakeware moulds arrive in last week. Loads of new designs - it's going to take me some time to get them all online.

There were several new chocolate collection moulds amongst them including ducks and bunny rabbits, dinosaurs and mini roses. I couldn't resist the duck one and the candies from this are just too cute to eat ! 

I so want to make some as cupcake toppers.

I know, I know. I should be preparing for the show. Still - I've got to have SOME time off. Please forgive me - the photos are not great. I did not get the light box etc out to take photos of the candies. Then again, it's after 3am and I know you want to see them.

This mould makes up to 4 bunnies, 4 ducks and 6 eggs at a time. 

The candies shown are simply Wilton Candy Melts with the details painted on in the candy melts.

The dinosaurs are rather cute too.

I'll do more some other time at a sensible time of day. These are a little rushed ..... and it shows. Still. Oliver will be only too happy to gobble them in the morning.

You will find I have not yet got the info or measurements done for these and online. There is so much to do and I'm SO far behind. Does not help that my laptop died last week and had to go and have the operating system reinstalled early this week.....

Another new item in is these silicone ice lolly / popsicle moulds which are now available in sets of 4. You can have them in assorted, green, orange, yellow or pink. Each comes with a pop on cap. Just fill approx 3/4 full (to leave room for the liquid expanding as it freezes) and pop in the freezer.

Oliver and I had some fun a couple of weeks ago. I can't resist showing you the results.

I got some dental alginate powder. You mix it with water and it sets into a rubbery type stuff within a matter of seconds. Dentists use it to take impressions of teeth.

I mixed a batch of it up and poured it into a silicone lasagne mould. Oliver then got to plunge his hand into the gunk and wait several seconds until it set.

After it set, I filled the cavity with some mixed plaster of paris and we left it a couple of hours to harden.

The result was the cutest hand casting. Unfortunately, it was very soft and fragile at the time. It was really easy just to lift out the alginate with the plaster cast inside. Extreme care needs to be taken at picking off the set alginate. It comes away easily, but the plaster is still damp and easy broken. 

I broke two of the fingers off the cast and had to stick them back on later with adhesive. Luckily, it's fairly hard to tell. The cast is definitely going in his memory box. It's so sweet to have a casting of his hands whilst he is still little.

Below is his first recognisable drawing - Oliver aged 2.1/2. Everything else just looks like scribbles.... but this is a car with doors and coloured it ! The drawing and hand casting were from the same weekend.

I'm really really proud today. For the first time ever, Oliver has been dry all day. We started trying to get him into pants on Monday. He's saving up his reward stickers for going on the potty / toilet to swap for a trampoline as soon as the building blocks toy box is covered. Started with one sticker on Monday and got  SIX stickers today ! 

Well done baby :-)