When you least expect it

Okay, it's time to do something about this poor blog post.  It's a shame that I've left it languishing in my drafts folder (with nothing but pictures) because this dessert deserves so much better.  It is without a doubt one of my favorite Tuesdays with Dorie recipes so far.  If you haven't tried it, you need to.  And to think I almost didn't make it...

Which recipe am I talking about?  The Cherry Fudge Brownie Torte.  Or, in my case, cranberry instead of cherry.  Why?  Because I don't like cherries.  But that's okay, because this torte is fabulous with cranberries--the tartness is a nice surprise inside the sweet rich chocolate brownie base.  And I know that some people left off the mousse layer, but it really makes the cake.  It's light and fluffy and not very sweet and is an excellent contrast to the brownie layer.

The recipe was chosen by April of short + rose, and was supposed to be posted back on October 27th, but I had just returned from a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania.  And I actually made it the first weekend in October.  When I first read the list of October recipes, I wasn't sure about making the brownie torte.  For one thing, it had cherries, and at first I couldn't think of a good substitute.  And the dessert is quite large, and I wasn't sure I wanted to make it just for us.  I could do a smaller version, like I have for some of the other TWD recipes, but I still wasn't sold on the idea.  But then we had a manager trainee at my branch.  And it was her birthday on the 5th.  I always make birthday cakes at work.  And she said she'd take whatever I wanted to make.  =)

I mostly followed the recipe, but of course made some substitutions.  As I mentioned, I used dried cranberries in place of the cherries.  I used rum to flambe them, and then added raspberry fruit butter instead of cherry preserves.  I used Ghirardelli 72% pieces for the melted chocolate, and folded in 4 ounces of Guittard 63% chocolate chips at the end.  My brownie baked for 45 minutes.  To dress things up a bit, I piped stars of the mousse on top of the brownie base.  It looked a bit plain, though, so I added chocolate shavings to the top as well.

The verdict?  Wow.  Like I said, this is one of my favorite TWD recipes ever, and I've made a lot of them.  It was a hit with everyone else who sampled it, too.  I will certainly be making this again, probably for the holidays (if I can wait that long).  I loved the cranberries with the chocolate (I'm not sure I've tried them together before) and the surprise bits of solid chocolate in the brownie part.  As I said above, I think the mousse is an essential part of the dessert.  It's not much by itself, but it's amazing paired with the brownie.  I really wish I had some more right now...

If you'd like to try this one for yourself, head on over to April's blog for the recipe.  And check out what the other TWD bakers have made this week.  (I didn't make another one of the November selections yet, so I'm playing catch-up with this one.)