Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse

I made this for dessert for our first girls’ night dinner. As you probably know by now, chocolate and peanut butter is my favorite flavor combination. Don’t get me wrong, I love it all. But when in doubt, I always go for some sort of peanut butter chocolate concoction and am never disappointed. And in a pinch – ya know, those times where you absolutely need dessert to cure whatever troubles you have but haven’t gone food shopping in weeks and can’t imagine moving more than the ten steps from your couch to your kitchen - a spoonful of peanut butter with a couple chocolate chips saves the day.

This dessert is a little more labor intensive than dipping a spoon in peanut butter and shoving it in your mouth but not by much. And it’s totally worth it. I whipped this up right before dinner so it would be nice and chilled by the time we were ready.

The mousse was a little hard to make because my apartment was SO HOT. I don’t think that the whipped cream got as light as it would have in an air conditioned venue. But I’m trying to conserve money and it’s more important for me to have cable so that I can watch TLC all night than it is for me to be cool.  Priorities, people.

For a mousse, this dessert is very rich and dense due to the cream cheese (again, also probably due to the sweltering heat of my kitchen suffocating the whipped cream). It tasted like a softer no-bake version of chocolate cheesecake. Minus all of the time and effort! If you wanted a lighter dessert, it would probably be delicious if you completely cut out the cream cheese and cut the sugar in half. You would obviously lose the cheesecake taste but it would be lighter… if that’s what you like.  I generally like my desserts so rich and sweet that a normal human being could only take one bite, while my sweet tooth and I can finish off a gigantic plate and look around for seconds.

I obviously chose to top the mousse with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Because… well, why not jump at the chance to pack a little extra peanut butter and sugar in there? And the crust is totally optional. I tend to like a little graham cracker for the texture and because it looks pretty at the bottom of individual portions. But feel free to leave it out if you’re not feelin’ it.

So give this rich and creamy mousse a try for yet another twist on the classic chocolate peanut butter combo! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse (4 servings) from Saving Room For Dessert

• ·         4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ·         1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• ·         dash of salt
• ·         1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• ·         1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
• ·         1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ·         1/2 cup whipping cream

Toppings:

• ·         4 Reese’s cups, chopped
• ·         1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Graham Cracker Crust

·         2 tablespoons butter, melted

·         3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1. 1.      Mix together butter and graham cracker crumbs. Push to the bottom of parfait dishes, mason jars, wine glasses, etc.
2. 2.      In a medium mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, salt and vanilla together until smooth. Melt the chocolate chips and stir into the cream cheese-peanut butter mixture. Sift in the confectioners' sugar and blend well.  In a separate bowl beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  With a rubber spatula, gently fold half the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.  Then blend in the remaining whipped cream taking care not to over mix or beat the mixture.  
3. 3.      Spoon the mousse into 4 serving bowls and refrigerate for about an hour.  Top with additional sweetened whipped cream and chopped Reese’s if desired.  Serve and enjoy!

loving my mason jars :)

White Chocolate Bailey's Mousse Pie with Bailey's Whipped Cream

Happy pi(e) day!

Get it? Because it's March 14th. 3.14.

It's also just a really good excuse to make a pie.

And keeping with the St. Patrick's Day theme, I decided to make a pie with Bailey's. I chose this one because I like that it's made with white chocolate. Typically desserts that incorporate Bailey's have a milk or dark chocolate base.

Warning: This pie is very boozy. This is a good thing. It has a generous portion of Bailey's in the mousse and in the whipped cream. I actually felt a little tipsy after eating a piece. Granted it was a gigantic piece with enough whipped cream for a whole pie.  Accompanied by some Bailey's on the rocks. It was glorious.

This pie is light and fluffy and absolutely delicious. It's a little tricky to dish out because it is so soft so, after letting it chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, I would recommend popping it in the freezer for about an hour prior to cutting and serving. You can either refrigerate or freeze the leftovers. In the refrigerator, it will only last a day or two because the mousse and whipped cream will begin to breakdown and the crust will start to get soggy (though not even that would stop me from devouring it). It holds up wonderfully in the freezer. You can either thaw it out for about a half hour in the refrigerator or enjoy it frozen!

Not in the mood for pie?  That's fine! Serve the mousse in cup topped with a huge dollop of the whipped cream. 

God, this is a wonderful and versatile. And sugary and alcoholic. And Irish. I'm in love.

Bailey’s Mousse Pie with Bailey’s Whipped Cream

Bailey’s Mousse Pie (from Saving Room for Dessert)

• Graham cracker pie crust (or you could make your own but I was feeling lazy)
• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
• 1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 eggs)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Bailey’s Whipped Cream (adapted from How Sweet It Is)

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
•  1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1.  Melt chocolate and Bailey's in a metal bowl over hot water.  Make sure no water touches the chocolate or it will seize up.  Use a spatula to blend well and keep from burning.  Remove from heat.

2.  Using a mixer, whip egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks hold their shape.   Set aside.

3.  Whip 1 cup heavy cream until stiff.

4.  Gently fold egg and whipped cream together.

5.  With a large spatula, gently fold white chocolate mixture into egg white mixture.  Do not over mix. However, it will take some time because white chocolate mixture is very thick in comparison to the egg/whipped cream mixture.

6.  Spoon into cooled pie crust and chill in the freezer while preparing the whipped cream topping.

7.  For the whipped cream:  In the bowl, add cream, vanilla and Baileys. Mix with an electric mixer (or in your stand mixer). Then add sugar and mix a little more.

8.  Spread the whipped cream over the mousse and chill for another four hours. I would suggest putting it in the freezer for about an hour before cutting and serving so that it holds its shape.

melting the chocolate and bailey's in my really shady makeshift double boiler

melted white chocolate and bailey's

whipped egg whites and sugar

whipped heavy cream

the mousse pie without whipped cream

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S PI(E) DAY! :)

I didn't let it chill for long enough. I couldn't control myself.

a frozen piece of pie. much prettier.