Vanilla cheesecake chocolate brownies

 

If the New Year sets the tone for how we intend to approach the coming months, then I think these decadent brownies -which somehow manage to incorporate a whole cheesecake sans base - are a rather good choice!

I probably needn’t tell you how well the tangy cheesecake works with the rich, dark chocolate brownie.  It plays with your taste buds because first off you feel like you’re eating cheesecake with brownie, then as you get to the base the brownie texture takes over yet there’s an unmistakable cheesecakeyness to it all.  Or to put it more simply: yum.

You will see from the ingredients that this recipe makes a lot of brownie mix so please heed the advice to use a deep tin; it would be too sad to lose any mix over the edge...much as your oven might enjoy it!  I used a mini roasting pan as it was deeper than my traybake pan.

I forgot to hold back some of the brownie mix, so my marbled swirl wasn’t as defined as it could be.  You know how it is: sometimes you get so lost in thinking about how nice what you’re making looks that you forget to pay attention to the finer detail of the recipe.

I made them the day before eating and it was a good idea – they firm up and get squidgy overnight.  For lovers of that gooey brownie texture these are a winner because the cheesecake adds to it.

These brownies are great with afternoon tea but would also work well as a dessert.  A scoop of ice cream or just some thick cream poured over would soften the hardest heart!

Ingredients

For the brownie:

200g dark chocolate
200g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
125g plain flour

For the cheesecake:

400g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125g caster sugar
2 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 30cm x 20cm deep tin with baking paper or non-stick foil.

Start by melting together the dark chocolate and butter – you can do this either with a bowl over a pan of simmering water (ensuring that bowl and water don’t touch) or in the microwave.  I used the microwave and found that four 30 second bursts did the job perfectly.

Put the chocolate/butter mix to one side to cool.

Now make the cheesecake mix: place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until thick and well combined.  You’re aiming for the gloopy consistency of mayonnaise.  Put the bowl to one side.

In a clean bowl, make the brownie mix: beat together the caster sugar and eggs until combined
.

Beat in the chocolate/butter mix.

Stir in the flour.

Pour 3/4s of the brownie mix into the pan and level the surface.

Spoon over the cream cheese mix in dollops and the remaining chocolate mix and give the tin a sharp tap on the worktop to level the surface.

Use a knife to swirl the mixes together creating a marbled effect.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the brownies are just set in the middle.  Mine took 45 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin – on a wire rack so the air can circulate around the tin – and then cut into squares.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.