Michel Richard's Le Kit Cat

[Carolyn Tillie]

Le Kit Cat

From Michel Richard’s “Happy in the Kitchen”

Bottom Layer

· 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

· 2 tbs. peanut oil

· 7 oz. milk chocolate melted and at body temperature

· 1 ¼ cup crushed cornflakes

Top Layer

· 1 ¼ cup heavy cream

· 5 oz. 60% semisweet chocolate, melted and at body temperature

Line an 8-inch pan with plastic wrap, letting it overhang on all sides.

For the bottom layer

1. Place peanut butter and oil in the bowl of a stand-mixer and beat with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed to thoroughly combine and light in color, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to low and add the melted milk chocolate until thoroughly combined.

3. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the cornflakes

4. Pour into prepared pan and level with a spatula. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

For the top layer

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the cream until soft peaks form.\

2. Place the melted semisweet chocolate in a medium size bowl and fold in half of the cream to lighten it and then quickly fold in the remaining half.

3. Pour the mixture over the bottom layer, making sure to reach the corners. Beat against the work surface to eliminate any air.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (At this point the dessert can last 3 days)

To serve le Kit Cat

One hour before serving, lift the block from the pan using the overhang sides. Peel off the plastic and cut it into 4x1 inch bars with a large warm knife. Have deep container of hot water nearby; dip the knife into the water, and dry with a kitchen towel before each cut. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops of the bars with cocoa powder; Brush gently so the cocoa fills in any small holes. Ladle sauce on the bottom of plate. Arrange some bars on each serving plate and garnish with raspberries.

Okay, there's a sauce that goes along with it buy my problem is in the bar itself -- the two layers separated... Anyone happen to know why that would occur?

Thanks!

[Tri2Cook]

What kind of peanut butter did you use? May be irrelevant in this case but I used an all natural Valencia peanut butter (ingredient list: Valencia peanuts) to make a ganache that I topped with strawberry pate de fruit and they wouldn't stick together. The natural oil from the peanut butter seemed to "squeeze" out of the ganache as it set and float the pate de fruit so you could lift it right off. I tried it again with a standard off-the-shelf peanut butter and it worked fine.

[chefpeon]

Yep, I think Tri2Cook is on the right track. Most likely you probably don't even need to add the extra peanut oil depending on the peanut butter you use. And in this case I would NOT use the all-natural type peanut butter that separates easily on it's own.

Another trick to try would be to add a little powdered sugar to the bottom layer recipe to absorb any excess oil.

[ColleenD]

This is one of my favorite desserts. I have made it a few times and have never had the layers separate. I've only made it with Jif, though, never natural pb. The recipe I have is the same except it calls for cigarette cookies instead of cornflakes. I have used those and also rice crispies when I haven't been able to get the cigarette cookies.

This dessert never fails to please so definitely give it another shot. Good luck!