One thing I found out in researching this throwdown is that Elvis not only had a great appreciation for southern food, but also loved great food combinations. Of course, one of his most widely known combinations is the peanut-butter-banana sandwich fried with a whole stick of butter. I had to expand on this fabulous theme, but I also wanted to focus on dessert. Looking at these Elvis impersonators made me realize that these guys didn't just get that way on fried chicken. They have a genuine love for the finer things in life and definitely cannot say "no" to dessert. They go back for seconds, thirds, ... heck, they probably eat the whole cake, and when given a choice between pie and cake, their answer is always "yes!" So that is the theme that I chose for this entry. I didn't want to have to ask "pie or cake?" so I combined the two together to make a taste sensation fit for the King.
I begin with a classic Southern specialty of peanut pie. I use a homemade crust in a small pie tin:
I mix up a peanut filling. I've never had peanut pie before and this one I found called for cinnamon and a dash of cayenne.
and make a caramel coating to top it all off but you'll see that later
For the Brethren, I smoke this pie to doneness, about an hour:
I'm not too concerned about a fancy crust, because it is going to be hidden.
I then make some chocolate cake batter and use my extra deep cake pan. I spread down a thin layer
and lay that lovely peanut pie on top and press it down a little:
Then fill up the sides and cover it up:
I bake this for about 3/4 of an hour:
I frost this with a chocolate ganache
Here is that sauce to go on top:
Of course this wouldn't be complete without some butter fried banana topping:
Probably this would be enough to serve one Elvis impersonator
We require a significantly smaller slice:
So here you can see the Southern-peanut-pie-inside-a-chocolate-topped-with-caramel-and-fried-banana-fit-for-an-oversized-Elvis-impersonator cake:
Thanks for looking!
