Brownie cheesecake slice and remembering

Mother remembered on Thursday morning that she had to take a slice into work on Friday. She left me a note asking me to make one for her. Of course I obliged; being unemployed and sole contributor to my baking blog, this request was perfectly tailored to my situation!

She needed something easy to transport (cupcakes are out), something that would feed a group easily (pots de crème are out) and something delicious. I’ve made brownies before and they’re delightful, but I felt as though she needed something a little more show stopping to tempt her co-workers.

I Googled a few recipes for it and put together a respectable looking recipe. I love the mix of chocolate and cheesecake, and the berries are the perfect pop of colour and flavour. The swirling means you get pretty, individual squares when you serve it up, but also means that each bite you take is mingled with chocolate and cheesecake.

This is an easy mixture for parties or large gatherings, this slice is a crowd pleaser.

Brownie:

• 150g dark cooking chocolate
• 100g butter
• 3 eggs
• 75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• 1/4cup caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa

Cheesecake:

• 250g pkt cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 20cmx20cm cake tin.

Zap the chocolate in the microwave until it’s mostly melted. Add in the butter and melt them completely. This mixture of butter and chocolate may not look great as it’s melting down, but every fibre of my body wants to eat it. It’s glorious, seriously. Mix the melted butter and chocolate until you have a glossy chocolate mixture and set it to one side to cool slightly.

Combine the flour and ¼ cup caster sugar in a large bowl. Pour in the delicious chocolate butter mixture and give it a good mix. Add in your cocoa, followed by the two eggs, whisking to combine. The chocolate brownie mix is thick and will harden as you make the cream cheese mixture, so try to work quickly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your cream cheese, sour cream and ½ cup of sugar in a bowl until smooth. It’s easiest to mix cream cheese when it’s at room temperature, so get it out of the fridge and let it warm a bit before mixing. Add the final egg and beat until just combined. The addition of the egg should thin the mixture out slightly and give it a lovely glossy sheen.

Spoon the chocolate and cream cheese mixtures alternately into the prepared pan. The chocolate mixture is much thicker than the cheesecake mixture, so it’s easiest to blob the chocolate spoonfuls about the pan and fill in the gaps with cheesecake. Dot the mixture with raspberries as you’re going. Repeat until both mixtures are finished.

Grab a skewer and swirl it about to create the swirled effect. Bake for 50-55 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when you can press down on the slice and it springs back slightly.

Set aside in the pan to allow it to cool completely before removing from the tin and slicing. Serve with milky tea and some good conversation .