{TWD} Espresso Cheesecake Brownies and Coffee Toffee Ice Cream

Hybrid desserts are rarely satisfactory to me (see, inter alia, Chipster Topped Brownies, Chocolate Gingerbread, and Thanksgiving Twofer Pie) While they can taste pleasant enough, I'm usually left with the nagging feeling that I'd rather have had one or the other of the elements on its own rather than the combination concoction. That being said, however, I thought there would be a solid possibility that I'd like this week's Tuesdays With Dorie assignment, Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. Brownies and I are fast friends, and cheesecake, especially espresso cheesecake, sounded like a decent addition. The best part? I could make these for a neighborhood potluck dinner and whether I liked them or not I wouldn't have to worry about finishing a pan of brownies by myself (that prospect sounded alternately wonderful and horrible to me).

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I made 1.5 recipe,m and the math was perfect for a 9 x 13 pan. I was a little concerned that the middle wouldn't cook through. It was only later that I realized (after I wrestled with done-ness testing angst) that I should have used two 8 x 8 pans.

- My swirling was pretty weak; the brownie batter was too thick and Dorie warned against over-swirling.

- I found it very difficult to test the brownie layer because it was under the cheesecake layer, which also had to be done. I may have left in a tad too long because the brownies seemed dry. Luckily, the fridge time helped; the brownies became denser and fudgier in texture.

- I left off the sour cream layer for ease of cutting and transport to my neighbor's house.

- I was lazy when I cut the brownies and didn't wipe my knife clean between each cut, so they ended up pretty raggedy-looking!


the verdict:

Unfortunately we left the party before dessert was served, so I don't know how people liked the brownies! The plate came back empty but I'm not sure I can draw any conclusions from that. I kept a few brownies for photographing (see? no swirls) and tasting.

To me these brownies were lackluster. The brownie layer needed more chocolate or more texture or something. Some chocolate covered cocoa nibs (those things are to die for!) would have perked up the brownies nicely, I think. The espresso cheesecake layer was delicious, though. But I would definitely like a different brownie on the base. Hmm, on second thought, maybe I'll just take a fantastic fudgy brownie...


...and while we're in the espresso/coffee mode, here's the final installment of Ice Cream Week (actually it's been Ice Cream Week Plus 1 Day) This weekend we were invited to a spur of the moment family cookout. I offered to bring homemade ice cream and my brother-in-law (the Grill Meister) semi-jokingly dreamed up a flavor request: "Coffee Heath Bar Crunch." He was pretty surprised when I showed up at dinner the next evening with his ideal ice cream flavor in hand (along with a full container of chocolate gelato).

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I figured that I'd make my BIL's requested flavor (I think Coffee Toffee sounds catchier, don't you?) by stirring in Heath bar bits into a coffee ice cream. I was pretty excited to make this because coffee ice cream and Heath bars are two of my favorite sweets individually and sounded like a winning combination together!

- There were at least three coffee ice cream recipes that I wanted to try, but ultimately chose the America's Test Kitchen Coffee Ice Cream recipe that my friend Tracey made because (1) it was easiest and (2) I wanted to try ice cream from a different recipe source than I'd previously used.

- My friend Maria suggested that I use chopped Heath bars rather than the packaged Heath bits, so I bought a bag of mini Heaths, figuring there'd be a bit higher ratio of chocolate coating per interior toffee. I chopped about half the bars (6 oz).

- I cooked my custard a minute too long (thought I'd turned off the stove burner but didn't) so I had to deal with some custard scrambling. I strained out the eggy bits and it was fine.

verdict:

This ice cream was seriously delicious!! It was lovely as plain coffee ice cream (I had a spoonful before I stirred in the toffee) and fantastic with the Heath bar pieces. My brother-in-law and his family were thrilled with the dessert and even more excited when I left the extra ice cream in their freezer.