Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tuesdays With Dorie: Peanut Butter Torte




I knew this week’s recipe wouldn’t be a big hit in this household. The husbot doesn’t care for peanut butter anything…or Oreos. (sad face)

Rather than eat a whole week’s dessert by myself (admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of those two things either) I decided to see how much ‘creativity’ I could get away with.

First off, I changed the peanut butter to pecan butter (with the power of the food processor, I can do ANYTHING!). Next, the Oreos got replaced with graham crackers. I realized (too late) that using pretzels for the crust would have been a perfect since I’ve been craving a Sheridan’s custard with pretzels all week. Now what I really want to make is some sort of pecan/caramel/ ganache/pretzel/cheesecake concoction!

Even without the pretzels and caramel, this was still pretty darn good.

Although I didn't include the oreos or peanut butter, I did layer on ganache aplenty. Chocolate (due to it's high cocoa content) is a rich source of polyphenols such as catechins and procyanidins. These polyphenols (usually studied from tea) have been shown (in animal models) to inhibit LDL oxidation. However, I did find one study which examined the long term effects of cocoa powder on plasma cholesterol levels. They found that "polyphenolic substances derived from cocoa powder may contribute to an elevation in HDL cholesterol", which in turn may lead to a "suppression of LDL oxidation".1 In other words, it potentially increases the "good cholesterol" which in turn decreases the "bad cholesterol".

Sounds like a good excuse for me to eat some more TWD torte!

This is my weekly submission to Tuesdays with Dorie, hosted by Laurie of quirky cupcake. Check out all the other creations by my fellow TWD bakers. A big thank you to Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food for picking this weeks recipe.

Baba S, Osakabe N, Kato Y, Natsume M, Yasuda A, Kido T, Fukuda K, Muto Y, Kondo K. Continuous intake of polyphenolic compounds containing cocoa powder reduces LDL oxidative susceptibility and has beneficial effects on plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):709-17.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pecans and graham crackers? Now, you're speaking my language. ;)

Christine said...

Yummy, love the pecans and graham crackers! Good job!

Gretchen Noelle said...

Nice changes! I hope you all enjoyed it this way!

Cara said...

I love your substitutions! Pecans are my favorite, but I've never had pecan butter, but I bet it is delicious! Great job!

Heather B said...

Great job! Looks delicious!

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious!! You weren't giving yourself enough credit from the way you told me and elie about it! =p I never got to try it~~ =(

Anonymous said...

I love sheridan's with pretzels....now I am going to be craving it all day. Your torte sounds great!

Sharon said...

Wow! Interesting Substitutions. Looks good.

PheMom said...

Mmm... your version sounds wonderful! Pecans are my favorite!

Blanchardlawn said...

Pecan butter sounds awesome, but I would never have let you marry a man who doesn't like peanut butter. We made cashew butter the other day and that was delicious too. One spoonful & you feel like you've had a meal.