This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie Treat is Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte. The past few TWD recipes have been fairly simple, homey and comforting ones prepared with mostly pantry staples, so it was about time we had a fancy dessert with a long ingredient list. I finally broke down and bought a bottle of Kirsch, which I had put off for a while since it’s kind of pricey. I read this post on David Lebovitz’s blog a while back where he lists it as one of his top five baking essentials and assures his readers that a little goes a long way. This was my second experience flambéing fruit and alcohol, and I’m happy that a package of long-stem matches appeared at my house since the last time, as it made the process a lot less nerve-racking knowing I wasn’t going to burn my hand or drop a match in the pan. I recommend having some in your kitchen (both Kirsch and long-stem matches).
This was a good dessert to divide up over a couple days; nothing is excessively laborious or complicated, but the brownie layer must cool before it is coated with the creamy mousse topping, which needs to set for another four hours. I baked a quarter recipe in two 4.5-inch springform pans, which probably took about 35 minutes to fully bake. The result was a gloriously dense fudgy brownie, laden with chunks of chocolate and tart cherries. The mousse topping was supposedly pourable but mine fell more in the spreadable spectrum of toppings. I don’t know if I overmixed or undermixed.
My boyfriend and had I disparate opinions on two torte-related issues this week. The first was the quantity to make. I told him I planned to make a quarter recipe, and he reminded me that there have been some weeks in the not so distant past where I’ve made small portions and we wanted more. But, aside from the fact I don’t own the proper-size pan for a half-batch, I could tell this one would be insanely rich and we would not need more than a quarter recipe, so that’s what I made. I told Josh if he really needed more dessert I’d make something else (and he’s still working on the torte). The second disagreement was the Deliciousness rating. I initially gave it an 8 and he rated it a 9.5, but then when I tried it the second night I thought it was absolutely divine, so the torte ended up with a 9 for Deliciousness. I gave it a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.57.
Many thanks to April of Short + Rose for selecting this great dessert. You can find the recipe HERE on April’s site and see what the rest of the bakers thought by visiting the TWD blogroll.
8 comments:
You have almost convinced me to remake this and hope for better things. At the very least I'm going to look for those handy smaller springform pans.
I'm glad you both enjoyed!
Your minis look great. A quarter of the recipe was more than enough for two people, wasn't it? It's more fun to move on to a new dessert if you need more sweets!
I love your dessert discussions with your boyfriend. Too cute. I made a half recipe and I gave one away and we are still working on the one tiny torte. Very good! Glad you enjoyed it also!
It looks delicious! I love you plate.
It's always better to leave them wanting more, isn't it? Besides, there's no shortage of goodies coming from your house!
Your brownie tortes look soo pretty with the cocoa dusting and sitting on your pretty plates! I also love all of your colorful bowls you used for your mise en place! =)
Less is more...there are always more sweets on the horizon.
Your torte looks great!
I had to sit out this week but eventually I hope to get around to trying this recipe. I still haven't had a chance to flambe in my kitchen and it scares me to death so thanks for the tip on the long-stem matches, that'll definitely help :) Your tortes look wonderful and I'd agree with you on the portions - a quarter recipe in your springforms was the way to go!
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