SNICKERS PUDDING

As tasty as they are beautiful, with rich and decadent layers- from peanuts to cream, crunchy biscuits to luscious chocolate- for the most memorable and delicious dessert.

INGREDIENTS

Ingredient List	50g thick cream
1 & Half cups/20 no.s biscuits	220g Semi-sweet Chocolate
2 tbsp Sugar	1 cup Whipped cream
4 tbsp Butter, melted	1 tbsp Butter
110 g Cream Cheese	½ cup Peanuts, salted
½ cup Peanut Butter
½ cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
200g Thick cream
1 ½ tbsp. Butter
220g Chewy Caramel

METHOD

Line a rectangular baking /Pyrex tray of about 11x7.5 inch with melted butter.

Crush biscuits in a food processor along with sugar until it is finely crushed. Then pop in butter and process again for a few seconds.

Transfer mixture to the tray and pat into an even layer using the bottom of a measuring cup or palm. Freeze this for about 15 minutes.

Bake this pan until the crust is firm to touch or for 8-10 minutes at 160C/320F.

Let it cool at room temperature and then refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

For peanut & cheese layer:- Take cheese in another bowl.

Mix in peanut butter , sugar and vanilla in a  blender or with hand.

Fold in 200 g of thick cream into it.

Pour this mixture on top of the biscuit layer. Refrigerate until it sets; for about a minimum of 20 minutes.

For caramel layer:- Microwave or double boil caramels, butter and cream (50g) until it melts and turn into a smooth cream. Keep on stirring while melting.

Pour this on top of the peanut cream.

Spread chopped peanuts on top of this layer.

Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes or until it sets.

For ganache layer:- Take chocolate chips/chunks in a bowl.

Heat cream until you see bubbles on the sides of the pan. Take it out and pour over the chocolates. Mix nicely until you get smooth ganache. Pop in a tbsp. of butter and mix well. Let it cool .

Layer this ganache on top of the caramel layer.

Garnish with peanuts, snickers or peanut/chocolate chips.

chewy caramels that I used

TIPS/VARIATION

For biscuits, you can use Oreo, Marie, Digestive, Graham crackers etc.

This dessert is deliciously sweet. You can cut down a little bit sweetness by substituting unsweetened whipped cream instead of ganache.  In that case , garnish with chocolate syrup and chocolate flakes. You can otherwise cut down the sugar added in peanut & cheese cream layer.

When microwaving caramels, stir between every 30 seconds.

I used ‘tiffany cream fudge’ for caramel layer.

Chocolate/Strawberry Donuts

These little cuties are so heavenly delicious that you won't go again to Dunkin or Krispy Kreme for donuts again. I got this recipe from a tv programme , but made my own adjustments and improvised the recipe after 4 attempts. I love this version more. You can play with your own imagination on the toppings. There are lots and lots of varieties. Chocolate, strawberry and icing sugar are few famous ones, which I've mentioned below.

Ingredients:

(Yields: 12)

1 ½ tsp Instant Yeast

250g White Flour (1 1/3   cups)

1/4 cup Milk Powder

 ½tsp Baking Powder

2 tbsp Caster Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

50 gButter, melted (4 tbsp)

1 Egg

Lukewarm water to knead (125 ml approximately)*

 Chocolate Icing:

1 cup Icing Sugar

1 tsp Butter

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

2 tbsp Water

Strawberry glaze:

1 cup Icing Sugar

2-3 tbsp Water

2 drop Strawberry essence

1 drop Pink Color

Method:

1. Mix yeast in lukewarm water and keep it aside until froth appears on top just like in the second picture in the collage below.

click the picture for clear view

2. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and milk powder together.

3. Make a well in the centre and pour the yeast mixture, slightly beaten egg and melted butter to it. Mix well in circular motion and turn into a dough using enough water.

4. Spread little oil on top and wrap with a cling film. Let it rise into double the size. It took about an hour for me though it depends on many other factors like the kitchen temperature, humidity etc.

click the picture for clear view

You can see how my finger impressions came out on the dough when it had risen.

5. Now, punch down the dough and knead well. Punching down helps to deflate the dough and let the air bubbles come out of the dough which was formed by the yeast during rising.

6. Take a small portion of the dough, flatten into 1/2 inch thick. cut out into donut shapes using donut cutter or 2 cookie cutters or even 2 bottle caps of different sizes.

7. Keep these cutouts on a tray and let it rise for about an hour or so till it doubles. Otherwise, you can keep in oven to rise. Preheat oven to 200C for about 15 minutes and switch off the oven. Place the donuts tray inside and leave it there for a few minutes till donuts double in size. Don't forget to turn off the oven before you keep the donuts.

click the picture for clear view

8. Fry these risen donuts in medium-low heat oil till they turn brown. Drain on tissue paper and let it cool before icing is done.

Chocolate/Strawberry Icing:

Sift icing sugar and discard the solids. Heat all the ingredients in a pan until sugar melts nicely. Dip donuts one by one into the icing (chocolate/strawberry)  halfway through , take it out and keep it on a tray. Sprinkle chocolate vermicelli ,sprinkles or walnut chunks on top of that if you wish.

Alternatively, for sugar coated donuts; dip these donuts in melted butter and then coat with icing sugar mixed with a pinch of cinnamon powder.

 Notes:
- * The measure of water mentioned here is just an approximate amount. It varies depending on humidity, size of the egg etc.

-The icing thickens easily. If so, heat it again till it melts . You can add more water if needed.


Linking this to Let's Cook for Easter