Mile High Peanut Butter Pie

Mile-High Peanut Butter Brownie Pie


Crust
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking powder
8 T. unsalted butter, cold, in 8 pieces
4 T. vegetable shortening, cold
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1/4 c. water, cold

Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse in the butter until the pieces are the size of large beans. Pulse in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse wet sand and there are no pieces larger than peas.
Add the vinegar to the water. Pulse in the water mixture until incorporated but before a dough ball forms.
Remove the dough from the processor and pat into a 4-inch disc on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Roll out the pie dough out to a circle large enough to fill a 9-1/2 inch deep-dish pie pan. Line the pan with the rolled crust and crimp the edges as desired. Freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425F.
Line the dough with parchment paper and pie weights. Bake for 18 minutes.
After 18 minutes of baking, remove the weights and parchment. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more. Allow the crust to cool completely.


Brownie Layer #1
3 eggs
1 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 18x13-inch baking sheet and line with parchment paper.
Beat together the eggs, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, salt, and baking powder.
In a second bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Stir the butter mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until combined and no streaks of flour remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan.
Bring the heavy cream to a simmer and pour over the chopped chocolate. Whisk to combine. Spread evenly over the bottom of the cooled pie crust.
When the brownies are cool, remove the brownies from the pan and cut an 8-inch circle from the brownies. Trim away any additional brownie to ensure that the brownie will sit flat on the bottom of the cooled pie crust.
Press the brownie round into the melted chocolate mixture and allow to set for 30 minutes before topping with the chocolate cheesecake layer. The remaining brownie can be used for another purpose.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Bullseye Layer #2
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. heavy cream
3/4 oz. dark chocolate, melted
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, salt, and peanut butter until combined.
Whip the remaining heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture.
Set aside one-third of the peanut butter mixture. To this reserved mixture, stir in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder until smooth and uniform.
Insert a checkerboard cake ring* into the cake pan. Spoon or pipe the center circle with the plain peanut butter mixture. Spoon or pipe the outermost ring with the remaining plain peanut butter mixture.
Spoon or pipe the chocolate mixture to the center ring. Remove the cake ring and smooth the top of the pie to ensure that it's level.

* If a checkerboard cake ring is not available, create 2 rings from double layers of aluminum foil. One ring should measure 3 inches across. The second ring should measure 6 inches.


Peanut Butter Mousse Bombe Layer #3
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. creamy peanut butter
2-1/4 c. heavy cream

Grease the inside of an 8-inch hemisphere/half-sphere mold and line with plastic wrap trying to minimize large wrinkles. Place the 8-inch mold in a 4- or 6-inch cake pan or ring to keep it from moving.
Grease and cover with plastic wrap the OUTER part of a 6-inch hemisphere/half-sphere mold.
Grease and line the inside of a small 3-inch hemisphere mold.
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, salt, and peanut butter until combined.
Whip the remaining heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture.
Add about 7 cups of the peanut butter mixture to the lined 8-inch mold. Press the 4-inch hemisphere mold into the center to the 8-inch mold pushing the peanut butter mixture up the side of the mold. Push the 4-inch mold in until the rim edges of both molds are level with each other. Scrape away any peanut butter mixture that is higher than the pan rims.
Transfer the pans to the freezer using the 4- or 6-inch cake pan to keep the pan upright.
Fill the 3-inch mold with peanut butter mixture and scrape the top even.
Freeze the all of the filled molds for about 4 hours to ensure they are frozen throughout.
Once the molds are all frozen, make the chocolate peanut butter mousse bombe (layer #4), below.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Bombe Layer #4
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
3/4 c. heavy cream
1-1/2 oz. dark chocolate, melted
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/4 c. Reese's peanut butter baking pieces

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, salt, and peanut butter until combined.
Whip the remaining heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture.
Fold in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder until uniform throughout. Fold in the Reese's baking pieces.
Remove the frozen filled pans from the freezer. From the larger pan, carefully remove the 6-inch mold and plastic wrap from the center of the pan to create a half-sphere cavity in the center of the peanut butter mousse layer.
Add the chocolate peanut butter mousse layer into the space left after removing the pan.
Remove the mousse from the 3-inch mold and remove the plastic wrap. Press the 3-inch peanut butter half-sphere (dome side down) into the center of the chocolate peanut butter mixture. Press the 3-inch half-sphere in the pan until the top of about level with the top edge of the outer peanut butter mousse layer.
Smooth the chocolate peanut butter layer and ensure that all 3 layers of mousse are even and flat. Return the filled mold to the freezer for 3 hours before covering with chocolate glaze.


Chocolate Glaze
6 oz. dark chocolate
3/4 c. heavy cream

Bring the heavy cream to a simmer and pour over the chopped chocolate. Whisk to combine.
Remove from the frozen peanut butter dome from the freezer. Turn the pan upside-down onto a cooling rack set in a sheet pan. Lift the inverted dome from the peanut butter mousse. If the mold does not release, gently warm the outside of the pan with a hair dryer until the mold releases.
Pour the glaze over the top of the frozen peanut butter dome. After ensuring there are no bare spots, allow any extra chocolate to finish dripping off the dome.
Carefully transfer the chocolate-coated dome to the pie trying to center it on the top.
Pipe whipped cream into the area between the crust and dome (below).


Topping
1 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. piping gel
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whip together heavy cream, powdered sugar, piping gel, and vanilla extract until mixture holds stiff peaks.
Pipe whipped cream into the area between the crust and dome.




Christopher Taylor, Atlanta, GA
2016 Amateur Peanut Butter