Tuesday, June 1, 2010

TWD: White Chocolate Brownies


This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie selection is the much-anticipated White Chocolate Brownies. (I say that they’re much-anticipated because for months there has been a campaign to have them selected.) When I told Josh what the selection was, he said, “wouldn’t they be blondies?” Hmm, good question. I’d never seen a white chocolate brownie, either. Then he tried them and said they tasted more like cupcakes than brownies.



There was much chatter on the Problems and Questions section this week about it being impossible to tell when the brownies were done underneath the layer of meringue, and also that they were difficult to get out of the pan. The latter problem was solved with a parchment paper sling and I lucked out with the baking time. I left them in about ten minutes longer than the recipe called for (even though I only made a half recipe) and they turned out well. The one problem I had was the meringue distribution. I plopped some on the brownies, then had trouble spreading it without mangling the entire concoction, so I whipped up more meringue in order to evenly coat the entire pan. Since I make a lot of ice cream, I almost always have extra egg whites on hand and I was happy to use up some more of my surplus.



So did we like them? Eh, they're good but I can definitely resist them and Josh even warned me they might not get finished, which NEVER happens with regular brownies in this house. I liked the addition of citrus (in the form of orange zest) with the sweet white chocolate, but didn’t think the meringue was a particularly special addition and I missed the chewy texture of a traditional brownie. We rated the brownies a 6.5 for Deliciousness and I gave them a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 1.85. Many thanks to Marthe of Culinary Delights for ending the White Chocolate Brownie anticipation. You can find the recipe here on Marthe’s lovely blog and visit the TWD site to see what the other bakers thought of this recipe.

13 comments:

Sihan said...

well.. those look picture perfect. But I have to agree with you that these imposter brownies somehow lack that 'oomph' temptation factor.

spike. said...

they look so pretty! I skipped the meringue. I'd agree, these were good but I could resist eating too many.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your brownies look amazing!! And they are making me regret my lack of raspberries!!

Bella Baker said...

They look beautiful! I skipped the meringue and happened to really like these. Totally agree that these tasted more like cupcakes than brownies!

Hindy said...

Your brownies look lovely! We agree that they weren't brownies. In fact 48 hours later, there are still 4 left. Unheard of. But I'm going to try this one again at xmas.

Leslie said...

What a beautiful photo! It never occurred to me to make more meringue (duh!) but that would have helped a lot. I agree with Josh, these didn't say "brownie" to me.

Cakelaw said...

Your "browies" turned out really well - the little spares are so cute!

Jacque said...

I almost wonder if a different name for these would have changed the experience altogether... I've seen quite a few comments that people were thinking more along the lines of a brownie and so were a tad disappointed.

Yours sure look good, though. Sounds like you made them just right.

Mimi said...

They looks so perfect. I think with a little tweaking these could develop into a winner.
Mimi

Unknown said...

I skipped the meringue on mine but I really love the way it looks on your brownies. It almost mimics the crackly crust traditional brownies sometimes develop. They look terrific! That said, these were definitely just ok for me too, which works out well as there are tons of treats at my house right now :)

Kayte said...

Yours look fabulous!

Anonymous said...

They look nice, and it's great that they baked all the way through for you. I was hoping for a chewy blondie-type bar too, but thought these were more like a cake.

Marthe said...

Yours look absolutely perfect, but I have to agree: these are not brownies!!!