EPIC CAKE: 6-LAYER CHOCOLATE AND PB

There's a cake I had been wanting to make forever. I first saw it on the blog, Christopher and Tia. It was gluten-free and vegan and since Corey's girlfriend follows a gluten-free diet, I figured "hey, I could make this cake for Bryanne!" But of course, I was always waiting for the perfect time to make this cake and that day finally arrived, the weekend after Halloween. Sean offered to help me make this epic six-layer chocolate and peanut butter cake.

Here's the recipe and process, it all its photo-glory:
Layer #1 - Brownie
I cheated and used a gluten-free brownie mix from Bulk Barn since I'm a gluten-free baking novice:Sean mixed all the ingredients together:
He's really big compared to that little tiny hand mixer:Next, spread brownie batter into a springform pan:Here I go:The gluten-free brownie mix was really "springy":
Bake for 20-25 minutes and the brownie layer should come out looking like this:If you use your leftover brownie mix to make regular brownies and add chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to the mix before making, this is what they'll look like:(though they tasted pretty darn good)

Layer #2 - Chocolate and peanut butter rice crispies
Get out your mise en place! This was a rare mise en place baking adventure. Here I have rice crispies, creamy peanut butter and chocolate chips:Start by melting the PB and chocolate chips together in the microwave in 30-second intervals:
Photo glitch:
Stir until melted and well combined:Next pour the melted chocolate and PB mixture over the rice crispies:
Stir!
Then spread onto the cooled brownie layer:
Ta-da! Then stick this in the freezer
Layer #3 - Chocolate Mousse
Gather your ingredients for the chocolate "mousse" (tofu, chocolate chips, vanilla extract):Begin by melting the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals:Then beat in the vanilla and entire block of tofu. Whip until smooth and thick:
Then spread on top of cooled chocolate and PB rice crispie layer. Stick in freezer to cool:Layer #4 - Peanut butter mousse
Repeat chocolate mousse steps but with peanut butter instead of chocolate chips. You may be covered in melted chocolate and PB at this point. It's okay...there are worse things to be covered in. Spread on top of cooled chocolate mousse layer:
Start chopping some roasted salted peanuts:
Look at the concentration on my face:
Chopping brought to you by Farberware:
Here is your five-layer cake out of the freezer:Layer #5 & #6 - Chocolate ganache and peanut sprinkles
Make chocolate ganache by melting more chocolate chips with soy creamer. Sean and I couldn't find soy creamer in his town so we had to use heavy cream (making our cake no longer vegan). Heat the cream and then pour on top of chocolate. Let sit for a minute or so and then stir to combine. Set cake on top of something (we used an upside-down cake pan) and then pour chocolate ganache on top and all over sides. NOTE: It is KEY that your cake is set at this point, especially your peanut butter mousse layer, otherwise everything will kind of slide around like ours did a bit. I had to salvage everything with a spatula. Immediately sprinkle chopped peanuts on top:
Transport to friend's house and serve:
Six layers of gluten-free cake:Chocolate and peanut butter smorgasbord:If you want to make this cake, which I highly recommend if you're a chocolate or peanut butter fanatic, here's the linky to check it out. And if you're serving it to a crowd who isn't gluten intolerant or vegan, don't even bother telling them because they won't notice a thing!

Oh and don't forget to take silly pictures of you and your "helper" and your cake before you cut into it! Our first attempt:Second attempt:Can I offer you a piece?

BREAD-O-RAMA!

It probably comes as no surprise that I don't eat a lot of bread. For one thing, I'd rather consume my carbs in the form of noodles. Secondly, white bread just doesn't do it for me. Thirdly, I can only eat nitrite/nitrate-free deli meat. So yeah, unless I'm having some high-end gourmet deli sandwich (that costs around $9 and I've made it myself), the chances of me showing you sliced bread on this blog is slim to none.

But now I take that all back because look at all the bread I bought in the span of less than 72 hours. I present to you Stonemill Cranberry Pumpkin Seed:Longo's Artisan White Baguette:and finally, Longo's Semolina Raisin:The latter ended up being my fave and the most costly. Le sigh. I totally picked up that bread without knowing the cost. You just ask for it from behind the counter and the Longo's employee can slice it for you and then places it within the priced bag. Oops!

My favourite way to indulge in these three breads is as follows:

1. Stonemill Cranberry Pumpkin seed - with Earth Balance (preferably soy-free but I haven't been able to find it so I'm slowly using up the Buttery flavour) or with Dark Chocolate Dreams (mmm....chocolate peanut butter)
2. Artisan Baguette - basically the same as above or with fresh basil, goat cheese, prosciutto and sauteed grapes. It sounds weird but is SO good. Plus, it was a hit at a condo-warming party Sean and I attended this past weekend.
   
3. Semolina Raisin - plain, with Earth Balance or with DCD. Seriously this raisin bread rocks my world but I think I just love raisin bread in general.

Anyway, I should probably go update the rest o' this blog (ie: food recaps and what I did this weekend) rather than go stuff my face with two more slices of Cranberry Pumpkin Seed bread with Dark Chocolate Dreams. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to buy another jar of that crack. Er, I mean peanut buttery goodness.