peanuuuuut peanut butter......chocolate.

Valentines day with A and I is kind of a non-starter - at least relative to several of our cohorts.  Sure, when we were newbies at the game we did cards and gifts and all that, and I still get a bouquet of over-priced roses (which are lovely, A, truly lovely) but our tradition has simplified into staying in and making a nice supper for ourselves, co-operatively.

So to cap off our bacon wrapped beef tenderloin with sauteed mushrooms, garden greens, grilled asparagus and sweet potato mash what could be finer than a MOLTEN PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CAKE.
It's a dessert I've made before and will make again.    You can make this ahead of time (I made it a full day ahead of time) refrigerate, and bake.  Super simple recipe.   (Yes, one day on this blog I will start to post photos, hindsight is always 20/20)

Molten Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake - for TWO
(adapted from Molten Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling found at http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cake-with-peanut-butter-filling).
*Note, the original recipe calls for 4 cakes, it could make 6 - just saying

This makes 2 reasonable servings, since I've pared down the recipe, you'll need a kitchen scale for the finer measurements....

40g of unsalted butter, plus melted butter for brushing ramekins
1 t of unsweetened or dutch process cocoa powder
12g (about a heaped tablespoon) plus 1 heaping t of all purpose flour
2 oz of dark chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon icing sugar
scant 3T of granulated sugar
1 large egg
Pinch of salt

IF baking right away....Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Brush two 6-ounce ramekins with melted butter. In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with 1 heaping t of flour; generously dust the ramekins with the cocoa mixture, tapping out the excess.
- In a medium saucepan, melt 40g butter with the chocolate over low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.
- In a bowl, blend the peanut butter with the 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
- In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the granulated sugar with the egg and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Fold in the 12g of flour.
- Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the prepared ramekins, then spoon the peanut butter mixture on top. Cover with the remaining chocolate batter.  At this point you can cover and refrigerate for several hours if you wish.

To bake:  In a 425 degree oven bake the cakes for approximately14 minutes straight from the fridge or 12 minutes if baking right away.  You want the cakes to look slightly undercooked and jiggly on top.  Remove the cakes from the oven, let stand a few minutes (Yes, it's worth the wait!) run a thin knife around the cakes to loosen.

To serve:  Drizzle your favourite chocolate or caramel sauce on serving plates, invert cake onto plate, with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side - YUMMMMMMMMM.