The Thin Mints were such a big hit, I thought I'd try one more remix this week. I suspect I'm not the only one out there with an affinity for peanut butter cups - sweet, nutty centers robed in chocolate. I wanted to do a version that played off the general shape of the traditional peanut butter cup, used all-natural ingredients, and had a contemporary twist to it. The twist? Instead of peanut butter, I went with a homemade Brazil nut butter filling.
As a kid Brazil nuts were the ones I always left at the bottom of the mixed nut bowl. I'm trying to make up for it now and there seem to be endless ways of integrating Brazil nuts into contemporary recipes - sliver them, puree them, toast them, grate them, use them as a thickener, make them into a nut flour, use them in cookies, biscotti, etc, etc, etc. I'm also on the lookout for an unrefined Brazil nut oil....
The nuts: Some are as big as a giant's thumb, they have a reddish-brown skin, and a taste that to my palette is somewhere between a macadamia and a blanched almond. You can read more about their nutritional profile here.
Recipe development and outcome: Making homemade nut butter cups is a challenge and a bit technical at a few stages. If you know this going into the project, there it is less likely that you will end up frustrated (maybe). For this exercise I used special plastic chocolate molds (that have been collecting dust in my cupboards for years). I suspect you could have more "homemade" looking results using tiny cupcake wrappers
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The taste and texture: The flavor of the Brazil nut isn't as pronounced (even when toasted) as peanuts or say, black walnuts. The nut butter I made for this recipe ended up nicely subtle with a prominent marzipan-ish flavor. Getting the amount of salt right was key, or the nut butter would have been completely flat and blah. Texture? The filling for a typical peanut butter cup is often a shade shy of solid. The filling here is more fluid, as you would expect from a homemade nut butter. The next time around I might firm it up a shade, but it is quite nice and natural as it is
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Pitfalls: You need patience to make these. Your kitchen will inevitably end up a mess. When it came time to pop the cups out of their molds (after setting overnight), my rate of success wasn't as high as it should have been - I cracked more than a few. What's the trick? I bet David knows the trick. When I finesse that part of the process, I'll update the recipe. The other thing I might do next time is have three different nut butter fillings on hand (black walnut, brazil nut, and the more familiar peanut butter) - do a range of cups to serve on a sample plate. The nut butters set off against the background of fine bittersweet chocolate is a real treat, being able to taste through a spectrum would be fun
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