Earlier this week when writing about the roasted cauliflower dip, I wrote that I dislike when I ate a lot of something and don't know if I like it or not.
You know what else stinks? Not particularly enjoying something that it seems like everyone does.
It invites too many questions. Is the product somehow defective? Did I perhaps lose some portion allotment lottery where I just so happened to receive the least choice segment that is so unlike the rest of it? Is there something wrong with me? Am I too picky? Do my taste buds work right? Do I need to see a doctor?
Such as it is with Trader Joe's Mint Flavored Fudge Brownie Bar.
No, I won't be shelling out any copays over it, but, man. Sandy and I picked this up to bring over to our good friends Mark and Emma's to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Figured between us and our kiddos we'd all really like it and it'd somehow match up pretty well with Emma's delicious homemade latkes (10 out of 10 Golden Spoons there).
Dessert time! Kids devoured it, as one would expect children with anything chocolate would do. Both Sandy and Emma oohed and aahed over it. I took a bite...and was not impressed.
First, the brownie portion is too small. I neglected to take a picture of the actual product but the pic on front is fairly representative. Vertically speaking, it's maybe half brownie before going into icing. I'm an icing guy. I love corner pieces of cake...but man, there needs to be something that can back that up as well. There's not enough brownie for all that rich icing, and what was there was kinda spongey. I'll give it somewhat a pass as this is a frozen product which we quick thawed in the microwave, perhaps with a different method of warming it'd turn out better.
And then, the icing.
Mint flavored? Puhleese.
Unless my tongue somehow came down with a Paula Deen version of the Midas touch, it all just tastes like butter. Butter butter butter. Where's the mint? There's maybe a scarce hint here or there, but really, it just tastes like rich, thick buttercream slabbed up on top.
The chocolate ganache does add a nice touch and for me brings the whole brownie bar back into the respectable realm, so there's that. It really needed to counteract the butteriness and pick up the brownie's slack, which it did. The ganache doesn't completely salvage the whole thing, but you'll never hear me say anything bad about ganache either.
Both Sandy and Emma admitted it could have been a lot more minty which would have upped their already positive opinion. So it's not all me...they're just more forgiving and tolerable, which is a good thing for Mark and me. Both lovely ladies graced the brownie bar with similar sentiments and scores: "Damn tasty...could have been more minty...rich and delicious though," they both more or less said before plopping about a 3.5 to 4 on it each? Me? I'd go a little lower, but seeing as that I just might be the outlier here, you may take my score with a grain of sugar.
Bottom line: Trader Joe's Mint Flavored Fudge Brownie: 6.5 out of 10 Golden Spoons
Oh boo :( . I just bought one of these last week and was saving it for a special treat or family party in my freezer. I also bought a pumpkin mousse dessert that looked similar in design. I will tell you what we had and adored....the Danish Kringle. Where I am in Virginia, the TJs sells out all the time. This year I bought one pumpkin caramel kringle and one almond. I am now wishing I had bought more. They freeze and defrost perfectly well. Just like a Krispy Kreme donut, they taste better after just a scant six seconds in the microwave. The inside goo in the pumpkin kringle was delicious. I actually went to the ohdanishkringle.com website and saw there are tons of flavors. If the shipping were not so high, I would order some.
ReplyDeleteDang. I saw the pick and hoped it was a mint version of the pumpkin cheesecake brownie bars, then I read the review and you've saved me. But I want a mint version of the pumpkin cheesecake brownie.
ReplyDeleteDisagree, should be an 8-8.5. It’s good. Brownie bottom, mint filling, ganache topping. Yes, minimum of 8 I am sure of it.
ReplyDeleteI bought this yesterday and I thought it was gross. Cloyingly sweet and tastes cheap, unfresh, and like plastic.
ReplyDeleteI would give it a 3.
ReplyDeleteOh my god. You're right. I was really disappointed I didn't like it. I still ate almost the entire thing myself over a few days, and it never got better for me. It really is just butter. Not mint. And if you separate each layer to try by itself, you'll be extremely shocked by how sweet the one layer is compared to the rest (the ganache? I don't remember, this was weeks ago) The one tastiest layer is actually so over-sweet its flavor isn't "true" once isolated. It just didn't harmonize for me at all, and it looked like something I'd love. Disappointment.
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