Chocolate Peanut Butter Crepe Towers

The crowning glory: dessert! This is super rich, but when paired with refreshing strawberries it is so good. I won't even begin to calculate nutritional information for any of these competition recipes with all the butter, sugar, etc., but this is really darn good. We tried about six different variations of everything and the students did some serious research into peanut butter mousse (that's the kind of research everyone wants to do, right??) to decide on this combination of flavors and ingredients. The end result was something the judges said was "amazing"-- the kids were pretty excited to get their dessert called amazing:) Enjoy!

Chocolate Crepes with peanut butter mousse

Flour ¾ cup
Cocoa powder ¼ cup
Confectioners’ sugar 3 Tbsp
Salt A pinch
Unsalted butter, melted 1 Tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Large eggs 1 egg
Vanilla extract ¼ tsp
Vegetable oil As needed
Strawberries 2 medium




1. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the butter, milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until blended. Add the liquid mixture a little at a time to the dry mixture, whisking to dissolve any lumps. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for 20 minutes


2. Lightly brush a 6-inch skillet with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat. When the pan is hot, remove from the heat and pour in 1/4 cup of the batter. Swirl the pan around to spread the batter evenly over the bottom. Return the pan to the heat and cook until lightly golden, 30 to 40 seconds. Turn the crepe over and cook the second side for about 15 seconds. Remove from the pan. Repeat the process until all of the batter is used, stacking the crepes between the squares of parchment or waxed paper to prevent them from sticking together.


Core and slice strawberries and set aside until dessert plating.

Peanut butter mousse

1/6 cup whipping cream
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp milk
¼ cup sifted powdered sugar
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ cup chopped peanuts


In a chilled small mixing bowl beat whipping cream until soft peaks form; set aside.


In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, and milk until combined. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Cover and chill until use.

Chocolate Ganache

ASSEMBLING DESSERT:


Cut small circles out of crepes using round cookie cutter.


Put peanut butter mousse in piping bag with small tip.


Place one crepe on plate and squeeze a spiral of peanut butter mousse on the crepe. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Layer with another crepe on top of the mousse. Repeat layers until you have used 4 crepes, ending with a crepe on top.

Pour chocolate ganache in ketchup bottle. Drizzle across layered crepes, lengthwise, also drizzling across plate. Place sliced strawberries next to the crepe tower.

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, whisking until smooth.