It ain't no Picnic

But it was definitely inspired by one...

I do love me my Picnics.  Wafer with cream, covered in caramel, surrounded by peanuts and smothered in chocolate.  Oooh, baby!

I have no problems with buying these deliciousness, but I can't bring it home or share them with my girls due to the peanuts.  (Ironically, we do have PB in the house... but we're talking about Picnics here, not my sense of logic!)

Here's my breakdown of this love affair.  Cream wafers - always a good start.  Caramel, yes please.  Peanuts... hmmm, I like the bite and the salty counterpart it offers to the rest of the confection.  Chocolate, which *gasp* can be a bit too much, but still a necessity.

So... this is what I came up with.  My homemade deliciousness (although the wafers are store-bought)...

Store bought wafers - I haven't found a recipe for these babies.  So, store bought for now.

Buttercream - simple American Buttercream, but I get to control the sugar to butter ratio (yeah - butter always wins).  A thin layer between three wafers.

Salted Caramel sauce - homemade is sooooo good.  Again, I get to control the sugar to butter ratio (and butter is still winning).  The sauce is layered on top.

Rice Bubbles - for extra crunch and vision.

Chocolate dribblings - fancy (!) and necessary.

For my taste buds, this is a perfect combination of crunch and silky smoothness (wafer and rice bubbles vs buttercream), sweet and salt (buttercream and caramel vs caramel), all balanced on the perfect carriers (wafer and rice bubbles) with the chocolate being the icing on the top.  It's homemade; it's divine; it's dangerous.

To save our hearts and waistlines, I have the ingredients on hand but only put it together when we're going to eat it.  Otherwise, it's a constant stopover at the pantry as I sneak in another bite.

Thanks Cadbury.  You're an inspiration :)