This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie treat was Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. I know the union of brownies and cheesecake is probably dessert bliss for a lot of people, but I’m not a huge fan of cheesecake. In fact, I have only skipped two weeks since joining Tuesdays With Dorie last November and one of those was the Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, though, since most other people like cheesecake, I have since gone back and made it (Floating Islands, I promise to get to you someday). Anyway, I went into this one anticipating not liking it very much. I thought about filling a graham cracker crust with brownie batter and calling it a brownie cheesecake, but ultimately decided to make a quarter of the original recipe, sans the sour cream topping, as I planned on freezing three out of the four brownies – too many treats around.
As I was putting the brownies together, the smell of the cheesecake layer reminded me a lot of tiramisu, which I enjoy quite a bit, so I was feeling a bit more optimistic about the outcome. Over the past few months I have gotten pretty good at scaling down recipes and need a cheat sheet much less often than I used to. However, I don’t always get the baking time quite right and I think the brownie layer turned out a little overdone. Normally dry brownies would make me cranky, but the cheesecake layer was moist enough, so it balanced out. My boyfriend and I sampled a brownie last night and concurred that they deserve a 7 for Deliciousness (better than expected) and I gave them a 2.5 for Effort, giving them an EDR of 2.8. I’m sure Mr. Penpen will enjoy the frozen brownies on some rare occasion when we don’t have fresh baked goods in the house and I don’t feel like making any. Many thanks to Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell for selecting this recipe (we're going to be don with the brownie section before you know it). You can find the recipe HERE on Melissa’s site and visit the TWD site to see what the other bakers thought of these brownies.
11 comments:
I'm really glad that this went smoothly for you - scaling and swirling - and that it was a pleasant surprise taste-wise. I thought I overcooked mine too (scaled it bigger) but lots of people thought the brownies were dry, so I'm thinking it was the recipe. I'd make a different base layer if I were to bake this one again.
I think I overbaked mine as well, but sadly the balance of my 1/4th of the recipe ended up in the trash!
Always nice when you end up liking something more than you thought you would!
They looks beautiful and kudos on doing something you thought you wouldn't like!
You got Swirls!!!?!?!?!? I am so impressed....how?
My brownie batter was so stiff I couldn't get it to swirl. You are a swirlie girl. Way to go!!! I admire all of you who scale all the time. Just think of the savings. Oh Mr. Wizard! Great job and I love the squirreled away treats.
AmyRuth
Mmm. FROZEN brownies. Nice. Luck mr. Pen Pen.
I'm envious of your marbling, too. Mine brownie batter sunk to the bottom of the cheesecake and wouldn't swirl one bit. Yours look great.
scaling down the recipes is the way to do it...and once you get the hang of pan sizes and baking times it's no big deal. nice swirls! how nice to have a little stash in the freezer!
LOVE LOVE LOVE those swirled perfections!
These actually tasted better the next day for us. The cheesecake layer seeped into the brownie and made it nice and moist.
I am making these again! ;)
Glad you ended up liking them more than you thought. They look lovely. I left off the topping (Read: scraped off)and liked them better.
Well, even if they weren't a favorite, I'm glad you baked along! Yours look fantastic! My brownie layer was so thin - yours looks much thicker, which is what I'd hoped for. You got pretty swirls too. Basically, your brownies were everything mine werent! :)
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