Mocha Cheesecake Brownies

It all started with a block of cream cheese.  

The original plan was to make bibingka and sprinkle the cream cheese all over it.  But a banana leaf needed for lining the pan was always forgotten and never made an appearance in our household.  Days turned to a week and I started to crave for something really chocolaty.

And bibingka is definitely not chocolaty!

So as per usual I turned to the Web (actually, it was Pinterest) and looked for brownies with cream cheese.  Or cheesecake brownies, however you want to call it.  Then I recalled this one recipe from Laura Vitale which I have made more than a couple of times (each time was a huge success!).  But again, I was hit by this (not really an issue) issue.

You see, I have this blog.  A food blog.  You're currently within its premises.  And I wanted to give a brand new recipe a try so I could post a brand new 'cream cheese brownies' on here.  You see the issue now?

And that's why we're here!  Actually, that's just one of the reasons.  Moving on to the recipe I found and picked!

There were two.  Both from Sally's Baking Addiction because Sally knows everything delicious.  My picks were (1) mocha cheesecake brownies and (2) red velvet cheesecake swirl brownies.  Both have cheesecake goodness but one weighs a little more than the other.  At least with my taste buds.

Mocha.  That already won me over.  There really was nothing to discuss because mocha.  So I read the post, the entire recipe...but a 9-inch square pan was used and I only own 8-inch squares.

Call me whatever but yep that tiny, tiny detail made me back out from that recipe.  I simply don't want to waste anything just in case things go wrong.  So I made a U-turn and headed back to the red velvet one which is baked in an 8-inch square pan (woohoo!).  But I wanted mocha and not red velvet.

Sally, I hope you won't mind.

I took a few notes from her mocha brownies and used those to alter her red velvet brownie recipe.  And here it is!

Mocha Cheesecake Swirl Brownies 

created from two Sally's Baking Addiction brownie recipes!

What you'll be needing:

For the brownie part:

115 grams salted butter*, melted

200 grams sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder*

1 and 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules* (with the back of a spoon, smoosh granules so they become fine powder instead)

1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar*

2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly whisked

95 grams plain flour

heaping 1/4 cup chocolate chunks

For the cheesecake swirl part:

224 grams cream cheese, room temperature

50 grams sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

What you'll be doing:

Preheat the oven to 177°C and prepare an 8x8 square pan by greasing it or spraying with non-stick spray; set it aside for now.

In a mixing bowl, pour melted butter followed by sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, instant coffee, vinegar and the whisked eggs.  With a sturdy whisk, combine everything.  Switch to a spatula to fold in the flour and then the chocolate chunks.  Pour brownie batter onto the prepared pan and leave about slightly less than 1/4 cup of batter behind.  Set both aside.

In a different mixing bowl, with a handheld mixer, beat all the cheesecake ingredients together until a smooth consistency is reached.

Dollop 6 tablespoonfuls of cheesecake atop the brownie batter like what Sally did in the red velvet cheesecake (see image here!).  Take your remaining brownie batter and pour alongside the cheesecake dollops.  With a bread knife, swirl the cheesecake around.  Gently tap the pan on a sturdy surface to even the surface.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes.  Let cool or go big and eat warm!

Notes:

-  The base of this whole thing is Sally's red velvet brownies.  I took a few ingredients and measurements from her mocha brownies and used them in the recipe.

-  Those with asterisks are the changes I made to the recipe.

The verdict?

OH.  MY.  GOODNESS.

Sooooo good!  If you  go back to the picture of the brownies still in the pan, you'll be able to see a corner and a little empty space which indicates that clearly, somebody couldn't wait until blog pictures were taken.

These brownies are so chocolaty but not too much mocha.  Weird, no?  I thought it was going to be pleasantly strong but instead the coffee flavor was faint.  At least for my liking, it is.  But really, that isn't a complaint.  Nope.

And since we live in the tropics, the brownies were refrigerated after they have completely cooled and almost gone and damn!  Cold, fudgy and chocolaty brownie with tangy cream cheese in each bite?  Like wouldn't you want to know how absolutely delicious that is?

I know.  You're welcome. Leave me a comment if you do make these!

Til the next post!