Cheesecake Brownies
The marbled brownie. A rich dark-chocolate brownie batter under-meets a sweetened cream-cheese ribbon swirled through the top, baked until the cheesecake layer is just-set with the slightest tan on the high points. Cool, slice; eat from the fridge.
Overview
Two mixtures, one tin. The brownie batter goes in first: dark chocolate and butter melted, sugar and eggs whisked light, folded together with flour and cocoa. The cheesecake topping is full-fat cream cheese beaten with sugar, an egg yolk, vanilla and a squeeze of lemon - the lemon keeps the white layer bright against the brown. Spooned over the brownie in dollops, then dragged through with a knife to make figure-eight ribbons. Baked low and slow so the cheesecake sets without browning much; cooled fully before slicing.
Ingredients
The brownie batter
- 175 g dark chocolate (70%)
- 150 g unsalted butter (cubed)
- 200 g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80 g plain flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- A pinch of fine sea salt
The cheesecake topping
- 300 g full-fat cream cheese (Philadelphia or similar, softened at room temperature)
- 80 g caster sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
Method
Stage 1 - Make the brownie batter
- Heat the oven to 150°C fan / 170°C / 340°F. Line a 23 cm square tin with baking paper.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (bowl not touching the water). Stir until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer for 4 minutes, until pale, thick and ribbon-trail consistency.
- Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs in three additions. Fold in the vanilla.
- Sift the flour, cocoa and salt over the top. Fold gently until just combined - stop the second no streaks remain.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
Stage 2 - Make the cheesecake topping
- In a wide bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a wooden spoon (or hand mixer) until completely smooth and lump-free. Skipping the lump-eradication step here gives you spotty cheesecake.
- Beat in the sugar until fully incorporated.
- Add the egg yolk, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Stir until uniform. The mixture should look like thick custard.
Stage 3 - Marble
- Dollop the cream-cheese mixture in large spoonfuls across the brownie batter - about 8-10 spaced piles.
- With a butter knife or skewer, drag through the dollops in long figure-eights, pulling some cheesecake into the brownie and some brownie up into the cream. Stop when you see a marbled pattern; over-swirling muddies the colours.
Stage 4 - Bake
- Bake for 32-38 minutes. The cheesecake layer should be set on top - no wet wobble - but the brownie underneath should still be slightly tender. The very faintest pale-gold tan on the high points of the cheesecake is the visual signal. A skewer pushed through a brownie-only patch should come out with moist crumbs (not wet batter).
- Cool in the tin to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The cold chill is what gives the cheesecake layer its proper set texture and the brownie its fudge.
Stage 5 - Slice
- Lift out using the baking-paper overhang. With a long sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry, cut into 16 squares. Wipe the knife between every cut - the cheesecake sticks.
Notes
- Cream cheese must be full-fat and at room temperature. Cold cheese seizes when beaten and stays lumpy; reduced-fat cheese weeps and won't set firmly.
- Don't over-marble: 3-4 figure-eight passes is enough. Beyond that, the swirls blend into a beige overall colour.
- Lemon optional: traditional cheesecake-brownie recipes skip the lemon. I find it brightens the cream cheese without tasting lemony. Half a teaspoon, no more.
- Variation: raspberry: scatter a small handful of fresh raspberries over the brownie batter before adding the cheesecake. The raspberries break down in the bake and give bright red pockets through the slab.
Serving
A square cold from the fridge, with a single fresh raspberry on top if you have one. Strong coffee. The slab is rich; one square is plenty.
Storage
- In an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The cheesecake layer needs the cold to stay set.
- Freezes well for up to 2 months - cut into squares, wrap each in cling film, freeze in a bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight.
More like this
New York Cheesecake
A graham-cracker base is pressed into a 23 cm springform tin and pre-baked for 10 minutes. Filling: cream cheese is softened to room temperature (cold cream cheese gives lumpy batter), then beaten with sugar, eggs one at a time, sour cream, vanilla and lemon. The tin is wrapped in foil so the water bath doesn't seep in. Baked at 160°C in a water bath for 60-75 minutes until the edges are set but the centre wobbles a 7 cm circle. Cooled in the oven with the door cracked for 1 hour (avoids cracks). Chilled overnight. Served chilled.
Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies
The construction trick is the frozen peanut butter slab: 1 cup of commercial peanut butter spread (the firm processed kind, not natural) gets warmed, spread into a tin, frozen until solid. That slab tucks inside the brownie batter mid-tin. The frozen state stops the peanut butter from melting into the chocolate during the bake - it warms back to soft-set fudge texture by the time the brownie's done. Topped with a drizzle of more peanut butter swirled across the surface, baked until edges are set with a centre jiggle, cooled and chilled until sliceable.
Cannoli Siciliani
Ricotta is drained in muslin for at least 4 hours (overnight ideal) to lose the wet whey. A pastry dough of plain flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, Marsala, vinegar, butter and egg yolk is mixed, kneaded smooth, rested for 30 minutes, then rolled out very thin (pasta-thin). Discs (12 cm) cut; wrapped around oiled metal cannoli forms; egg-wash sealed; deep-fried at 180°C for 90 seconds until amber and crackling. Cooled, the shells lift off the moulds. The drained ricotta sweetens with icing sugar, vanilla and orange zest; chocolate chips and chopped candied peel fold through. Piped into the shells at the moment of serving; ends dipped in chopped pistachio or chocolate; dusted with icing sugar.
Cheese Blintzes
A two-stage dish. First, thin crepes (much thinner than a pancake - almost see-through) cooked one side only on a buttered pan, stacked under a clean cloth. Then a filling of farmer cheese (or ricotta drained well) mashed with egg yolk, sugar, vanilla and a little lemon zest. A heaping tablespoon of filling on the cooked side of each crepe, folded into a tight envelope, and fried briefly in butter on both sides until golden. Served warm with cold sour cream and a spoon of red-berry compote.