The Birthday and Fluffer-Nutter Tart*

The good weather continued throughout the weekend, making it an all-around remarkable birthday, really. We (being my sister and mother) went kayaking at my favorite hidden lake (it’s tucked in behind a cemetery–you’d never know it was there–and it’s a honey-hole for fishing–caught my first fish of my life there, as a matter of fact). That was Saturday. On Sunday, which was the actual birthday in question, we had a fairly low-key kind of day. After church we came home and settled in a bit. I took my standard Sunday nap, and then got to cooking. Hey. Leave me alone. It’s something I enjoy. And enjoy it I do, but most especially on Sundays. Why is that? Because most days I cook for family. On Sundays I cook for me. I make whatever I’ve been dreaming up. Off the wall? No problem, it’s Sunday. Is that even edible–on Sunday it is. But even more than most Sundays, is my BIRTHDAY Sunday. Do you really think I was going to miss that with dinner out in a restaurant? No way. I made exactly what I wanted. And they HAD TO EAT IT–and not complain. No, not even once.

AND. As if it couldn’t get any better, because it was my birthday, I did not have to do any work. So that colossal pile of dishes I created was someone else’s problem. Seriously. We had more dishes dirty than clean. It took the kids two full hours to do the job. And did I fell bad? No. No I did not.

And what did I chose to make? Well, it kind of evolved as the day went on. I had boughten lump crab and little neck clams, with the intent, as I probably mentioned here on Friday, of making clams three different ways. Well, as I got going, I decided that I only wanted them one way and that was casino–as in slathered in bacon-drenched, onion and pepper stuffed on a half-shell goodness. Who wouldn’t want that? And for the crab, I had thought of saving some for a quiche later in the week, but did I do that? No. Not at all. Every drop of that crab went into crab cakes. I have no regrets.

Finally, for dessert. Oh–vegetable? Was that missing? I hadn’t noticed. Anyway, where was I? Oh. Yes. Dessert. When I began my planning, I was going to make a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Perfect. Done. But then as the day went on, I realized what I really wanted was peanut butter. (Surprised? Me, too). So, then I decided to make a chocolate tart with peanut butter mousse. Well.. VERY long story short, in the end it was a fluffernutter pie on a crisp crust with not one drop of chocolate to be seen. I know. I’m shocked, too.

To make it, I began with One cup of whole milk stirred together with two tablespoons corn starch and a half cup of sugar. To this two egg yolks were whisked in along with a strong dash of salt. All the above were cooked in a saucepan until thick and bubbly. The pan was removed from the stove and a half cup creamy peanut butter was beaten in. This was placed in the fridge to cool while the crust was constructed.

Honestly, the crust was a bit of a mistake, but it turned out fantastic–kind of crispy, like a butter-finger bar. I cut four tablespoons of butter into three quarters cup of flour, a half cup of sugar and a half teaspoon salt. Once the butter was the size of split peas, two tablespoons ice cold water were blended in and the dough brought together with my hands and formed into a ball. Now, because of the sugar, this was too tender to be rolled out, so it was just pressed into a nine inch tart tin, then baked in a four hundred degree oven for about twenty minutes, or until it was golden.

The crust was taken out and set aside to cool while a cup of heavy cream was whipped along with a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of vanilla. Once soft peaks formed, the now whipped cream was gently folded into the now cooled peanut butter mixture. This was placed back in the fridge until the crust was sufficiently cooled.

While I was waiting on that, I made the topping. The two egg whites left from the peanut butter mixture were placed in my mixer and whipped until soft peaks formed, and while that was happening, a concoction was placed on the stove consisting of a half cup corn syrup, a half cup sugar, and two tablespoons of water. This was set to boiling and left to boil until it reached two hundred and forty-two degrees. Once it did, it was poured into the whipping egg whites, along with a splash of vanilla and left to whirl a bit.

Okay, for the construction: The peanut butter filling was spooned into the crust and smoothed out here and there. The marshmallow topping was poured over that and encouraged to cover all the peanut butter by any means necessary. I had considered sprinkling crushed peanuts on the top, and if it hadn’t been my birthday I would’ve done just that, but I don’t like crushed peanuts, so they were left off.

*I am so sorry about that picture of the tart. I meant to get one on my birthday itself, but was to taken up in the festivities. So, I went to get a shot the next day and all that was left was this sham of a piece, which I guess means they liked it.