TWD: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

It’s been far too long since my last Tuesdays with Dorie post. Truth be told, I think I was extremely disheartened after the disaster that was my attempt at the Coconut-Pineapple Dacquoise. Not that it tasted bad, but I put so much time, energy and money into it, that any disappointment was really too much for me with my stress levels at the level they were at. Now, I’ve cooled off, had a chance to restabilize and ready to put the flour back on my hands!

These Espresso Cheescake brownies combine a dense chocolatey brownie base with a light creamy espresso cheesecake layer. Brownie batter is also swirled through the cheesecake layer to create a lovely marbled pattern.

I ended up loving the marble effect so much that I was loathe to cover it all with the suggested sour cream icing. Still, I wanted to give it an honest try, so I decided to test the icing on a quarter of the brownie. After giving the result a taste I decided that I could forgo topping the rest, and I really don’t think that the brownies have suffered for it.

So how do they taste? I wish I could say that they were jaw droppingly good, but I was a little underwhelmed. The textural difference between the brownie batter and the cheesecake filling was a little disconcerting for me, but the flavours were solid and satisfying. It’s a bit of a shame as the visuals are just so stunning 🙂 In the future though I think I’ll keep my brownies as brownies and my cheesecakes as cheesecake and never again shall the two meet 😉

For this Espresso Cheesecake Brownie Recipe turn to pages 104-5 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours or visit Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell