FN Dish – Food Network Blog: Go behind-the-scenes at Food Network featuring your favorite chefs, shows, recipes, events and more.

Some special clients were coming in for a lunch and I wanted a really special dessert. For an event last fall, I made a peanut butter ice cream with a homemade concord grape jelly swirl, but this time I wanted a plated dessert rather than just a scoop.

I was discussing with Miriam, our Sous Chef, and Anthony, a freelance cook, and their ideas immediately made me think about using a classic Kentucky jam cake as the base, putting more grape jelly on top, then topping it all off with peanut butter ice cream. When testing the cake recipe, we didn’t have enough grape jelly, so I had to use fig preserves, which made the most incredible cake.

Some Syrah wine grapes were available in the market and they made the best grape jelly we had ever tasted. The dessert came together with some toasted peanuts and a sprinkle of flaked sea salt. Not a crumb was left on the plates!

Peanut butter & jelly — who knew it could be a decadent dessert for grown-ups?

Recipe Developer Sarah Copeland taste testing

Rob Bleifer, Executive Chef