We all know and love our peanut butter sandwiches, but we never thought how this delicious and energetic superfood became so popular and became a household product? We have been loving this product since childhood as a part of our school lunches and evening snacks parties. Now a day you get an array of varieties but there are mainly two types of peanut butter available, the regular plain peanut butter and the other fancier one with peanut butter and jelly bean. I myself am a fan of the regular one. Today while we understand and read more about the peanut butter becoming a family tradition, I am sure that you’ll be able to answer a peanut butter trivia after reading this article.
Peanut butter actually dates to Aztec times. The Aztecs mashed roasted peanuts into a paste, somewhat different from what we know of as peanut butter today. But many people have been credited with the title of peanut-butter-inventor, among them is also George Washington Carver. However, he did not invent peanut butter. Instead he promoted more than 300 uses for peanuts, among other crops such as soy beans and sweet potatoes.
The actual invention of peanut butter, its process of manufacture and the machinery used to make it, can be credited to at least three doctors or inventors. In 1884 Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Canada patented peanut paste, the finished product from milling roasted peanuts between two heated surfaces. In 1895, Dr John Harvey Kellogg (the creator of Kellogg’s cereal) patented a process for creating peanut butter from raw peanuts. He marketed it as a healthy protein substitute for his patients without teeth. In 1903, Dr Ambrose Straub of St. Louis, Missouri, patented a peanut-butter-making machine. In 1922, chemist Joseph Rosefield invented a process for making smooth peanut butter that kept the oil from separating by using partially hydrogenated oil. In 1928, he licensed his invention to the company that created Peter Pan peanut butter. And in 1932 he began producing his own peanut butter under the name Skippy.


Some Peanut Trivia:
l Peanuts are actually not nuts, but legumes grown underground.
l China and India are the major producers of peanuts respectively, followed by United States. Georgia and Texas are the two-major peanut producing states in US.
l More than half of the American peanut crop goes into making peanut butter, whereas India and China uses it to make other peanut related products and are consumed in various types.
l It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
l Americans eat around 700 million pounds of peanut butter per year about 3 pounds per person.
l An average American child eats 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he/she graduates from high school.
How peanut butter is made commercially?
Peanuts are shelled at a plant and the excess debris is separated.
The peanuts are placed in a hot air roaster where the temperature is raised to 240 degrees Celsius turning them from white to light brown.
The peanuts are quickly cooled to room temperature by suction fans that suck out the hot air.
The peanuts are then placed in the blancher which removes the skin and the bitter “heart.”
The shelled, roasted and blanched peanuts are then dropped into a grinder and reduced to a thick paste.
The paste is heated to 60 degrees Celsius to be mixed and then is cooled down to 38 degrees Celsius before it is jarred.
Peanut butter cheesecake


Ingredients


For the base
Pretzels, crushed 1 cups
Butter, melted ½ cup


For the filling
Cream cheese 120 gm
Sugar 1 cup
Creamy peanut butter ½ cup
Vanilla extracts 2 tsp
Eggs 3 nos.
Peanut butter chips 1 cup
Dark chocolate chips 1 cup


For the topping
Creamy peanut butter ¼ cup
Icing sugar ½ cup
Whipped cream 1 cup
Unsalted peanut ½ cup


Method
Lightly toast the pretzels and crush them to a coarse powder in a bowl.
Add unsalted butter and combine well to make the mixture soft.
Line and grease a spring foam type cake ring base with this mixture, press to make the base hold together.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350-degree Fahrenheit for 5-8 minute to bake the base, allow to cool on a wire cooling rack.
In a separate bowl combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth and all the sugar is dissolved.
Add peanut butter and vanilla extracts and mix well, keep aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs to make them fluffy.
Combine the eggs and the cream cheese mixture and add the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
Pour the prepared mixture over the prepared crust and return the pan to the oven.
Bake at 350-degree Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes or until the center of the mixture is set.
Check by piercing a knife, the cake is cooked if the knife comes out clean, allow to stand for 10 minutes and cool down.
Refrigerate for 2-3 hours for the cheesecake to set and demold onto a serving platter.
For the toppings whip the heavy cream and pipe on top of the cheese cake.
Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle crushed peanuts on top, serve cold.
Note: Instead of using pretzel as the cake base, you can substitute it with biscuit/cookies crumble.