Chocolate Ganache, and Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake – TWD
Welcome to week two of Allison screws up the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe! Last week, the crème brûlée had all it’s parts, tasted delicious, but just wasn’t very pretty. This week, however… oh dear. The recipe was for Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake – sounds simple, right? Well, that which *should* have gone wrong turned out fine, while that which should have been easy-peasy failed miserably.
I do not own a springform pan. I did not have time to go out and buy a springform pan. The recipe says to use a springform pan. Um… oops? Instead, I used an 8″ circular cake pan. You know I breathed a sigh of relief when the cake turned out beautifully. I don’t think anything was lost by using a different pan! *whew* Thank goodness I at least got the base of the recipe right!
Well, let’s see. If I got the cake right, what else could I possibly mess up? That’s right, the topping. I was *supposed* to make a caramel topping for the cake. Should have been pretty simple, right? Or not. The recipe said to cook the caramel 5-10 min before putting the heavy cream and butter in. I cooked it 20 minutes, and it still wasn’t darkening much, so I put the dairy in. Crudmonkeys. Bad idea. The topping turned out to be a soupy mess, and cooking it longer in hopes that it might caramelize only turned it into a *stinky* soupy mess. Dang.
Normally, I would have tossed it and tried again. But, um, that was the last of my heavy cream. And I didn’t have time to go to the store, because I had to leave on *another* trip. Shoot. After a few moments of panic (what the heck am I going to top this cake with?!?!), I called my mother in hopes that she had a frosting/glaze recipe that was easy and that I wouldn’t have to buy extra ingredients for. My mother is a lifesaver. She has a chocolate glaze recipe that she uses quite often that worked wonderfully with the cake. And I managed not to screw it up. Yay!
Although I’ll bet the caramel topping would have been wonderful, I thoroughly enjoyed the cake with the chocolate glaze, garnished with peanut halves. Yum.
The original recipe for the Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake can be found on Wee Treats By Tammy. I give to you the recipe for the chocolate glaze:
Ingredients
- 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Cooking Directions
- In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together.
- Add the hot water.
- Quickly stir in the powdered sugar.
- Pour the glaze over the cake, let cool.
Barbara 10/07/2008 at 12:24pm
Good save with the chocolate glaze! I’m glad part of the recipe turned out for you and you were able to come up with something yummy in the end!
Barbara’s last blog post… TWD: Double Rewind for Creme Brulee week
pinkstripes 10/07/2008 at 02:25pm
The chocolate glaze looks yummy. I’m sorry the caramel didn’t work out.
pinkstripes’s last blog post… {TWD} Carmel-Peanut-Topped Brownie {mini-cup}Cake
Tammy 10/07/2008 at 04:29pm
great variation!
Tammy’s last blog post… You Want Pies With That?
Allison 10/07/2008 at 10:03pm
Barbara – Thank you! I’m glad as well, and although I bet the caramel would have been wonderful, the chocolate glaze was quite delicious. 🙂
pinkstripes – It’s very good, and very easy to make. I definitely recommend making it sometime.
Tammy – Thanks!
Marthe 10/08/2008 at 02:55am
Your chocolate glaze looks great on top of the cake!!
Marthe’s last blog post… TWD: Caramel Pecan-Topped Brownie Cake
Teanna 10/08/2008 at 06:55am
That chocolate glaze looks absolutely delicious! I think it looks fantastic, and I love the way you used the peanuts! Gorgeous!
Teanna’s last blog post… TWD: Well Slap My A*s and Call Me Suzie
Peggy 10/08/2008 at 05:18pm
Sounds like we had similar problems with this cake. But I love the chocolate glaze you did. Sounds really good!
Peggy’s last blog post… Caramel Peanut Topped Brownie Cake
Jaime 10/08/2008 at 09:26pm
lovely presentation. sorry the caramel didn’t work for you – if after a long time it still isn’t caramelizing, just crank up the heat on your stove slightly to speed up the process – but watch it carefully, esp if you have an electric stove… the higher the heat, the quicker it will caramelize, but the quicker it will burn too
Jaime’s last blog post… Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake (TWD)
Tanto Izakaya - Sunnyvale, CA on Fridgg.com 10/09/2008 at 03:39pm
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Sandy S 10/10/2008 at 08:43am
Nice save! This looks delicious and very pretty with your modification. (And let’s all remember that Toll House Cookies started out as a “mess-up” too, and we know how much the world loves a good chewy chocolate chip cookie!) Good job on this!
Sandy S’s last blog post… Easy Water Bagels
Shari 10/10/2008 at 10:21am
I love how you’ve placed each peanut! Looks very professional!
Shari’s last blog post… Tuesdays with Dorie—Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake
Linda 10/11/2008 at 06:30pm
That chocolate glaze looks fantastic…and beautiful presentation!
Linda’s last blog post… TWD – Caramel PECAN-Topped Brownie Cake
Allison 10/13/2008 at 11:50pm
Thank you so much, everyone!
Jaime – I tried upping the flame on the stove, but still no caramelization. I must not have been patient enough. 😛
Chauncey Gamba 10/13/2011 at 01:52am
You have the best blog in the worlddddddddddd.