Espresso Cheesecake Brownies - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, page 104 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I baked this week's entry early this morning before my first (and hopefully only) day of jury duty. It has been too hot in Los Angeles to cook any other time. I am now starting this post using my iPod Touch and free WiFi at the courthouse...how do you iPhone people manage this keyboard?! My finger is cramping, I keep hitting the wrong letters, and oh my gosh, I'm getting motion sick seeing those letters pop out at me. (I have an LG Envy phone and it has a "raised" touchable QWERTY keyboard that I can use without looking. Um, I need to be schooled by my iPhone peeps or eventually forget getting the iPhone and pick up the Blackberry.)

Swirl the brownie batter with the espresso cheesecake batter before baking

I skipped the sour cream topping and don't really have a review because I can't eat them...dairy is pretty much a foe of mine now. I'm crazy not happy about that. Sadly, I now chew (to check if I accidentally used salt instead of sugar and to check the texture) and then I spit it out. Sigh. However, the flavors I did get were pretty tasty!! :)

...Back home now for lunch, shoot some photos and post this entry (using a real computer keyboard! :) I am crossing my fingers I don't get picked during the second session of jury duty. They haven't called anyone yet and there are over 100 of us reading, surfing the net, and dozing off. Los Angeles County uses a one trial or one day system...so if I can just make it to 5 pm...

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Melissa's Life in a Peanut Shell blog post has the recipe
Dorie's awesome book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (just buy it, you'll love it), page 104.

Cherry Cheesecake Tart - You Want Pies with That?

I need to check my birth certificate. I think my middle name is actually "Procrastination."

It's Sunday night...the Lakers just won Game 2 of the NBA Championship (whoo hoo!) and my pie is finally in the oven. And, of course, it is due in a few hours. I also spent the morning at Disney's California Adventure with UCLA friend, Barbara...and got my personal best on Toy Story Mania with 176,100 points...however, I just watched this youtube video of hints and discovered the high point Easter eggs. Next time, I'm going over 200K :)

This month's theme for You Want Pies with That? is "Childhood Favorite Pie" by Ellen at Kittymama. Ellen couldn't join us this month because she has very exciting happenings in her life...in fact, check her blog for details of how she is going to create wonderful childhood memories for a beautiful little sweetheart!

Childhood Memory Pie: Bake a pie or tart that is inspired by a favorite childhood memory. Maybe you spent a summer vacation in Maine so it's a blueberry pie; or your grandmother always baked lemon meringue, or you remember your first taste of apple pie ever. Tell us a little story that will help us walk down memory lane with you and relive some happy childhood memories!

Um. Memories.
Let me describe myself using some Disney terms.

I am Dory from Finding Nemo. I speak whale and can't remember anything.

However, I did reach way way back and found two childhood food-related memories: graham crackers and cherries.

I remember eating graham crackers for snack at "Preschool in the Park" (it was actually held in a park). And I remember seeing a photo of my brother and I holding a big box of fresh picked cherries. Now, I don't remember going out and PICKING the cherries, but I remember my mom showing me the photo and telling me that we went cherry picking someplace in Los Angeles or the surrounding counties. Pretty pathetic memory, but, like I said...I'm Dory.

This pie is a variation of Tyler Florence's Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. I made the original before (very yummmmy!), and switched it up for this challenge.

I used a 9" tart shell, omitted the lemon zest, and used 1 cup pitted and halved fresh cherries on top. Baking time remained the same. It's a great tart for those times when you don't want a 3" tall chunk of cream cheese but all the flavor. Original recipe: Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars by Tyler Florence

Please be sure to check out the other creative You Want Pies with That? bakers!! Whew! 11:45 pm and I got it in! Good night!