January 23, 2012

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies. What a mouthful.

My sister loves red velvet. Me, I never cared for it. I’m not sure why – it’s basically chocolate, gussied up with a little food coloring to make it prettier.

Whose idea was that? I mean, the adding of the food coloring?

It serves no real purpose really, purely aesthetics. I mean, I know about the beets. I get it. But why pretend with food coloring? Nostalgia, I guess?

So perhaps I never cared for red velvet based on its mediocre attempts at being pretty versus tasty.

Whatever.

I’m getting over it, thanks to these brownies.

No joke, I will be using this recipe from here on out. I may never search for another variation, ever. It will be the base for every brownie in my future, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

Think chewy. Moist. Decadent. Fudgey. I’ll be perfectly honest here – I left the brownies sitting out, all night, uncovered. UNCOVERED. I just cut a piece to eat (okay, slab), and it is STILL as moist as ever.

I am in LOVE.

And hence, the red. Ideal dessert for Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner. (How’d THAT happen? Wasn’t it just Halloween??) Leave out the red, add it, or go green, blue, whatever…pick your poison. Just make them.

Do it. I promise you won’t be sorry.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Rating: 5

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Yield: 16-20 Brownies

Ingredients

10 Tablespoons butter
3 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Red Food Coloring (I used Wilton No-Taste Red)
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
For the Cheesecake Layer
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper long enough to hang over on two sides, making it easier to remove from pan once baked. Spray pan and paper.
In small saucepot over medium heat, or in the microwave, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and red food coloring with the sugar. Slowly add in chocolate mixture until well combined.
In small bowl, sift together cocoa, salt and flour. Add mixture to rest of batter. Do not overmix.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

For the Cheesecake Layer
Beat ingredients together until smooth. Pour over brownie batter. Use sharp knife to swirl together.
Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until just set and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

One of the secrets to these brownies is the QUALITY of chocolate being used. There are lots of options on the market, but I tend to use Scharffen Berger. I love the flavor, the availability in stores, and the range of product. For this recipe, I chose to use the Semisweet Baking Chunks, but an even darker chocolate would have been just as good or better. The Scharffen Berger Semisweet, though, is a great percentage to transition between kids and adults (kids like sweeter, adults a little darker, on average) – so it’s a favorite here at our house. I also used Scharffen Berger Cocoa in this recipe.