A Man Can Not Live By Bread Alone...

"A man can not live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter!"- James Garfield

I love to entertain. A few weeks ago I had company coming and knew I was to cook for a handful of people. I wracked my brain and had numerous discussions with co-workers as to what would be the most bang for the least amount of effort and what was sure to impress (because entertaining shouldn't be stressful, it should be fun and easy!).

I settled on a big, steaming pot of chicken curry that simmered all day long. A real crowd pleaser. Dessert was another story all together. I just couldn't get inspired. I flipped thorough my personal recipe book, hmmed and haaawed and even Irma B and her Joy of Cooking couldn't get me excited. A last minute, desperate search lead me to my all time favorite foodie blog Smitten kitchen and the random recipe button. I pushed that button once and bam! Peanut butter chocolate cake. Who wouldn't love that? It was easy, moist and delicious and everyone LOVED it! Because I can't leave a good thing alone, I adapted her recipe by adding pear infused balsamic (instead of white vinegar) and just a splash of red wine for good measure. I also added fresh raspberries between the layers (I had two layers not three) and some on top for garnish. Because I was in a rush, I frosted in a messy-just-get-the-damn-stuff-on kinda way and I loved how it turned out. I think everyone should make this, or at least use the chocolate cake recipe, cause it is the bee's knee's.

Recipe can be found here...    http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/ 

If you do not know Smitten Kitchen, you should. I have never had a Deb Perelman recipe fail me yet and she uses simple ingredients with an elegant finish. She also just released her first cook book and it is a beauty.
-m