Cranberry Corner: Death by Birthday Cake

Back in January, Lyndsay pinned a cake on Pinterest. She wanted it bad. I repinned the post and tucked it away in my mind. This would be her birthday cake. And today is the day!

The recipe comes from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, and when you see her gorgeous photos, you'll understand why Lyndsay's immediate reaction was lust, of the chocolate-peanut butter sort. It's basically brownie tortes layered with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse and Peanut Butter cups and topped with thick, fudgy ganache. What's not to love?

But when I read the recipe and it said, "Butter and flour six 4 1/2 inch diameter spring form pans," I think I literally said out loud, "Who the h*** has six 4 1/2 inch diameter spring form pans?" And then I repented and continued to read. Turns out that the delicious cake in the pictures is teeny tiny! 4 1/2 inches! And the recipe makes two of them. The smallest pans I own are 6 inches, so I decided to just trust her measurements and make one cake with my 6 inch pans.

It worked beautifully. I made her brownie batter (which chocolate chips, people! There is no skimping here!) and when she said to scoop 1/3 cup batter into each of the dollhouse pans, I just put 2/3 cup into each of my 6 inch pans. I watched the baking time carefully, but they still ended up baking for about the same, 20 minutes for me. So, I made three of the brownie tortes. (I lined the pans with buttered and floured parchment to make removing them from the pans without breaking easier. Worked perfectly. And the little raised edge around the tops? It will serve a glorious purpose!)

Let the brownies cool completely. Then whip up the batch of Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse. In the blog post, she states that for photography purposes only, she doubled the recipe for the mousse, but not to do this because it would be just too much of a good thing. I think she's right, but the double layer sure does make for gorgeous photos.

And chop up a ton of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I ended up using twenty. Ee-gads!

Then place your first brownie torte on a plate, spread 1/3 of the mousse on top and sprinkle with peanut butter cups. This is where that lovely edge on the brownie tortes comes in so handy.

Add a second layer of the same.

And then the third and final. It's extremely decadent, but still small. This is a salad plate that it's siting on. And this is fortunate because there are only three of us at home, plus Lyndsay's boyfriend who will be eating it. I was worried about having some huge birthday cake left over calling my name when I'm trying to lose weight over here. I've been waiting all week to get to indulge in this, and then I shall move on.

But wait, there's more! Next 4 1/2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate is chopped up, warm whipping cream is added to it, and ganache appears before your very eyes.