Busted Biscuits and Chocolate Peanut Butter Redemption

Several years ago, my mother organized and co-wrote a fundraising cookbook for my high school that is a wonderful compilation of our favorite lowcountry tastes and traditions.  Around our house, this book is frequently referred to as our second Bible!  All of our family favorites are included, and I can't imagine being in the kitchen without it.   Want to order one?  Click here or call Beaufort Academy.

Moving on. . .

The joke around my parent's kitchen is that Luci is the baker and I am not.  I love to cook.  I appreciate the art of cooking so much more than the science of baking.  The precision of it freaks me out, and I tend to overanalyze the simplest steps.  2 cups of sifted flour?  As I stare at the bowl, I wonder if this exactly 2 cups?  What if I pressed down harder and compacted the flour harder on this cup than the last?  OMG, flour is getting everywhere, my kitchen is a mess! Ahhh...

A cold winter night last week, I reheated some gumbo for supper and wanted to make some biscuits to go with it.  Full Moon, High Tide has these awesome sour-cream drop cheddar cheese biscuits that are so delicious and light, and I decided to give them a whirl.

However, being lazy and ignoring all rules of baking, I marched on.

I did not have a flour sifted and skipped that step.  The dough looked dry as I was finished beating everything together {ha, like I know from experience}, so I added a touch more butter, and a touch more sour cream so I could throw the container away.

Big. Mistake.

The biscuits had freaking craters in the middle of them. And they tasted like a big buttery gooey disaster.  Not even the Sweet Potato Butter from Lowcountry Produce or Lash's sweet attempt to put down a few could save these busted biscuits and they ultimately ended up in the trash.

Noted: Baking 'scientists' probably know what in the world they are talking about when they write the recipe as such.

As I mentioned previously, Lash rang in the big 2-5 Wednesday.  We had fun plans of wining and dining our way through town Saturday night by taking advantage of Charleston's Restaurant Week, but a delayed flight home Friday and a bad cold for me, and a full day of studying Saturday for Lash changed our plans.  Santa brought Lash a deep fryer for Christmas, and per the birthday boy's request, we figured what a perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.  I do love a relaxing night at home!

However, since we were not going out, I felt bad for the slighted birthday boy {though he was completely happy} and decided to make it up to him by surprising him with his favorite combo- chocolate and peanut butter!  My roommate recently made this cake, and let me tell you, it is to die for.  It is extremely labor intensive, but absolutely worth it in the end, especially for the chocolate peanut butter lover.

Allow me to introduce you to Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate- Peanut Butter Glaze courtesy of the Smitten Kitchen Blog.

Professional images via their blog

Allow me to introduce you to what my cake looked like:

Yes, those are twizzlers. I forgot to buy the number "5" at the grocery store.  Gotta be flexible.

OMG.

Y'all.

In my house, baking leads to bad words and drinking.  I almost got into the wine at 3:00 when I had to start over because I had not read the directions clearly, but I did manage to hold off until 5:30 when I was putting the final chocolate glaze on the cake.  That's why it looks so crappy.  By that point, I was so. over. the. cake.

But despite the outward appearance, it is incredibly delicious, moist, creamy, chocolate-y heaven.  And I'm proud of myself for getting back on that baking horse and powering through a fun labor of love for my man!

I was almost too embarrassed to show these photos, but I am really thankful for my blog to capture my up's and down's in the kitchen.  I'm just keeping it reall!!