Once upon a time, there was a lonely cheesecake.  One day, she met and fell in love with a handsome brownie.  This is what came next…..

*nb:  my oven is on its last legs and this took forever to cook through. Keep an eye on it from about 45 minutes onwards and remove from the oven when the edges are crispy and the centre juuuuust firm enough.

Ingredients:

(makes a 20cm x 20cm square tin of brownies)

150g butter

120g dark chocolate chips or a block broken into pieces

250g caster sugar (150g for the brownies and 100g for the cheesecake topping)

3 eggs

225g plain gluten free flour (or regular flour if GF is not an issue)

1/4 teaspoon salt

250g pack of cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons raspberry jam

1 punnet fresh raspberries

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C and line a 20cm x 20cm cake tin with a removable base.

Using a mixing bowl sitting over a simmering pot of water, gently melt the butter and chocolate together until combined.

Remove the bowl from the steam and stir through 150g of caster sugar.

Add the eggs, mixing well after each addition.

Add the flour and salt and stir well.

Set aside.

To make the cheesecake topping (and I dare you NOT to eat the lot straight off the spoon before it even makes it on to the brownies!), use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese with 100g of caster sugar and the vanilla.

To assemble the brownies, pour the chocolate mix into the base of your prepared pan.  Then, dollop the raspberry jam across in little dots on top of the chocolate base. Using a tablespoon, place little heaps of the cheesecake mix evenly across the chocolate and jam.   I also put the fresh raspberries on at this point.  Given my dodgy oven and the extended cooking time, they burned, so I ended up taking the poor little blackened things out and replaced them with fresh raspberries while the brownie was still soft and warm.  I would suggest leaving the raspberries off during the cooking process and add them for the final 10 minutes of cooking, or straight after taking the brownie from the oven before cooling.

As per my note in the introduction, they should bake in around 45 minutes.  Use your judgement and leave them in for as long as you feel they need to cook to your liking.  The cheesecake with be slightly wobbly, but will set on cooling.  My apologies for the guess work in this method!  Truly though, the end result is worth the trip into the unknown!

 

Would you like more wholesome homemade MamaBake Sweet Treat recipes?  Go here x.