For filling:
Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight.
For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.
Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely.
For frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on 9-inch tart pan bottom. Spread with half of filling. Place another layer, bottom side up, on work surface. Spread with remaining filling; place atop first layer. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom side up.
Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Press candy and peanuts onto top of cake.
My dad just emailed this picture of Asher and I that he took on his phone when we were in Vegas. I can't believe how fast they grow up!
My mom and step-dad got Asher this play set for his second birthday (April 12th). He can't get enough of it! In fact it has been a gift for Moises and I as well because while Asher spends hours on it we sit on our patio reading or with our laptops.The following is a little explanation on what this search is: during the week of Passover, it is prohibited for Jews to own any chametz (leaven). Therefore we search and destroy chametz before Passover. In most homes the process of cleaning begins weeks before Passover. The house is scoured from top to bottom to remove all traces of chametz.
The final "search for chametz" is done the night before Passover with the light of a candle (a flash light can also be used), in order to look in all the nooks and crannies.
There is a custom that ten pieces of chametz are "planted" in the rooms to be searched. The ten pieces remind us of the ten plagues. The following morning the pieces of chametz are then burned.
Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter quiche dish or pie pan. Line the pan with sheets of matzo, patching up any holes with smaller pieces of matzo. Sprinkle both cheeses over bottom of crust. Top with spinach mixture and if using the dill, lay the dill sprigs evenly over the spinach. Beat eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dillweed in large bowl to blend. Pour over spinach. Bake until filling is set, about 40-50 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.
Yield: About four dozen cookies, or half as much if you sandwich them
1 (7-ounce) tube pure almond paste (not marzipan; 3/4 cup)
1 cup sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
2 large egg whites at room temperature for at least 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 300°F and place racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
Pulse almond paste, sugar and salt in a food processor until broken up, then add egg whites and puree until smooth. Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch tip and pipe 3/4-inch rounds (1/3 inch high) about 1-inch apart in pans. Dip a fingertip in water and gently tamp down any peaks.
Bake, rotating and switching position of pans halfway through, until golden and puffed, 15 to 18 minutes.
[When you rotate the pan midway through baking, you'll wonder why you left so much space between the cookies. Suddenly, at 15 minutes they'll puff up and you'll be happy you left that space!]
Let cookies cool almost completely in their pans. Once cool, they’re much easier to cleanly remove from the parchment. You can make them into sandwich cookies by spreading some jam between them or ganache (3 ounces of semi-sweet chips melted with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream, then left to thicken a bit would be enough to sandwich the whole batch).
Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two or frozen up to one month.
