Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

I was very excited on Valentine's day this year. I had seen a gorgeous recipe for red velvet cheesecake brownies by the Novice Chef and they looked absolutely perfect. Now hubby and I are not really into the Valentine's day fever of flowers and teddies and fancy dinners. We do like to have a nice meal at home, followed by eating dessert cuddled up, while watching a romantic bollywood flick (we love our Bollywood). This dessert was perfect for the day. Karan (my husband) absolutely loved it, I could see he was trying hard to not have another piece, that feeling didn't last for long :)

Recipe

adapted from The Novice Chef

Ingredients

Red Velvet Layer

3 1/4 cups flour

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons milk, divided 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon red food coloring

2 teaspoons white vinegar

Cheesecake Layer

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 C. Grease and flour a 13x18 swiss roll pan and keep aside.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. The batter will be a really thick, almost moldable texture...but don't worry, that's what you want. I was a bit worried its too thick but it turned out ok. Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk (into the 3/4 cup of batter you just took out). Set aside the 3/4 cup batter.

Pour the remaining batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Using a spatula, smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.

Now, in your stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.

Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer. Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.

Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or just until the center is set and it no longer jiggles. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Use a medium sized heart cookie cutter to create the perfect Valentine's day sweet for your sweetheart.

Tips:

I would recommend using a 13x18 pan as I used a smaller one and had thicker brownies, thay are a little harder to cut also the cooking time can be a little more.

The offcuts can be used as a mix in with ice cream or the base for a trifle pudding. The Novice chef made a milkshake out of it, you can find the recipe on her blog.