Monday 10 August 2009

cheesecake brownies

I baked my first batch of brownies earlier this year and since then, I've been on the lookout for other brownie recipes. There's been a few by Donna Hay which I'm quite keen on but without having to look far, there were two in 'In the Kitchen'; one for a plain chocolate brownie and the other being a cheesecake brownie. With family over for the weekend, I thought I'd give the cheesecake brownie a go.

You see, my mum is always the first to taste test my baking and after trying a piece herself and watching the rest of the family eat their way through the tray, she pronounced this recipe as my best ever yet. She had not seen a tray of brownies go so fast and unfortunately she wasn't quite quick enough to get herself seconds. Here's the recipe for those who are keen on giving it a go:

In a bowl, melt 100g butter and 100g chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water. In a separate bowl, beat 3 eggs, 50g flour and 150g sugar until white and doubled in bulk. To this, add the melted chocolate and pour into a lined lamington tin. In a third bowl, beat 250g cream cheese, zest f 1 lemon, 1 egg and 75g caster sugar until combined.
Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the chocolate mix.
Swirl to incorporate, aiming for a marbled effect.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.
Allow to cool before cutting.
Unfortunately I didn't quite achieve the marbled effect. The heavier cream cheese mix seemed to settle to the bottom and form a layer of it's own. But I agree with mum, this is recipe well worth baking again. The tray was gobbled up within the hour and really, that's got to say something!

Admittedly, this isn't the prettiest of brownies. You could dust with some icing sugar to make it slightly prettier but I think the chocolate and cream cheese already give it enough sweetness and once you've tasted it, I guarantee you won't need that dusting of icing sugar - you're hands will be going gravitating to the tray for another piece. Whilst most recipes seem to ask for a good quality chocolate, I used Nestle melts for these brownies and they tasted great so probably no need to spend a whole lot of chocolate - just a regular one will do.

Anyway, this is Recipe #13 I've cooked/baked from Allan Campion & Michele Curtis' 'In the Kitchen'.

5 comments:

Trisha said...

I've tried Donna Hay's cheesecake brownie and I didn't even bother doing the marbled effect. I think my cheesecake was the opposite - it was too runny and my brownie was too dense so they wouldn't amalgmate to form the "marbled effect". It still tasted fantastic though he he he!

Joanna said...

*drools*

Now I'll just have to persuade my sis to make this ;)

Stephcookie said...

Yummm I love cheesecake and I love brownies, so this is just full of awesomeness! Maybe if you beat the egg a bit on its own first it would make the cheesecake part less dense so it wouldn't all sink to the bottom? Still looks delicious though!

Bean Sprout's Cafe said...

I had made cheesecake brownies a couple times..in some different recipes.. I love it, next time I have to try this recipe..hehe

(but I was same as yours, my cheese batter always thick and heavy lol)

panda said...

trisha - the important thing is that it tastes great! anyway, now you've got me curious about donna hay's recipe and lol, i wonder if it's in any of the donna hay books and magazines i have....gonna take a look...hehehe

jo - lol...your sis is a great baker. if you get her to make some, make sure you save a slice for me!

steph - cheesecake is probably my favourite cake and i've developed a soft spot for brownies so i did enjoy this slice. thanks for the advice, will try it out next time!

beansprout - let me know how you go if you do try this recipe. come to think about it, cream cheese will always be heavier, i wonder if it need to add more chocolate to make the chocolate mix heavier :D heheh...i think that sounds like a good idea.