Thursday, May 3, 2012

Bunny Brulee... Jessica Rabbit's Tastier Cousin



   I knew the dame was trouble the minute she walked into my kitchen. She had that soft pliable texture, big dark eyes I could pick off and eat, skin like marshmallow,  and a pair of ears that just wouldn't quit.


   But she was hard. I could tell at a glance since it was a couple of days past Easter, that she'd been around. She was cheap too, no question about it. She'd been marked down by every clerk at CVS, and was covered with those little yellow stickers. But the minute I laid eyes on her I knew she'd be going home with me. I knew she'd clean up beautiful. She was just what I needed and I was carrying a major torch. Culinary torch that is. Her name was Bunny Brulee, and this is her story.

 Okay, enough with the purple prose, dime novel stuff. What I'm talking about here is stale Peeps. You know, those ubiquitous marshmallow candies that come around every Easter dressed in all sorts of pastel shades not found in nature, dusted with a sugary skin. Peeps, the only candy that's more fun AFTER Easter. You Tube is filled with people doing an ungodly variety of outrageous stuff to Peeps. Most of this action involves a microwave oven (Don't try this at home kids) but I ran across something else that intrigued me and that was the concept of grilled Peeps or Peeps Brulee.

  For the life of me, I cannot remember where I saw someone do this. I know it was on Twitter and whether it was someone I follow or a re-tweet from someone I follow, I watched a hand toast Peeps with  a culinary torch and  it wasn't the only thing that was ignited. I had to try this myself. I decided that I'd find some Peeps, toast them, combine them with a homemade Indian-flavored ganache and make a sort of uptown/downtown s'more, or as I call it, Bunny Brulee.

   

Homemade S'mores



Here's What You Need:

1 package of stale Peeps or regular marshmallows.
4 oz of good quality dark chocolate
1 package of graham crackers
1 cup of cream
8 green cardamom pods
a culinary torch

Here's What To Do:

Chop the chocolate into pieces and set it aside.


Crush the cardamom pods and remove the seeds.


Put the cardamom seeds into the cream and heat the cream until it just starts to boil.
When it does, put a lid on the pot, take it off the burner and let it steep for about 30 minutes.
After it has steeped, strain the seeds out of the cream and put it back on the burner at a low temp.
Melt the chocolate on the top of a double boiler ( I use a bowl set on top of a small pot of boiling water.)
When the cream is once again hot, take it off the burner and pour the melted chocolate in.
Mix it together.


Make sure it's all blended in.


Set the pot of melted chocolate aside to cool. You want it cool but still  creamy and spreadable.
When the chocolate has cooled enough, thickly paint one side of a graham cracker with i.

 Set the graham crackers on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and pop them in the fridge to chill.
When the ganache coating in the crackers has hardened, take them out of the fridge.
Take the Peeps and place them on a cookie sheet or in a Pyrex dish.
Using the culinary torch, toast the Peeps gently.


Take a toasted Peep and place it on a ganache-covered graham cracker.


Top it with another graham cracker chocolate side down.


Press, but not too firmly.
All I could think of while doing this was this guy.

Here are your Peeps  after a ride on a culinary torch.


Yum Yum!

   Of course while we were enjoying our treat we couldn't leave Patsy out of things. A quick trip to the Three Dog Bakery here in Sonoma yielded a Puppy Cannolli.


We gave her half and that stopped her from demanding any Peeps...


...for a few minutes at least.

   Did my guests enjoy the Bunny Brulee? You bet they did! Of course they are my friends and if you get people liquored up enough, they like anything! First rule of Peeptown. What this dish actually led to was getting involved in making my very first truffles, since ganache is what Truffles are all about. You can get the recipe here. Coming up next the winner of the OXO digital scale then a quick squash dish for a warm Summer night. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

3 comments :

  1. interesting! I don't have a torch..is there any other substitute?

    ReplyDelete

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