Wicked Espresso Cheesecake Brownies!

I’ve said this time and again…even though I enjoy cooking almost everything under the roof, baking is what I actually love the most as a cook. It soothes me on choppy days and on the days that are dull, baking also somehow manages to lift up my spirits like a few other things do.

It’s my thing.

It had been quite some time since I baked a calorie-overload, ooey-gooey sweet dessert. I was wanting to do a cheesecake for months now but kept putting it off thinking it was too rich for my own good. I am on ..umm.. a plumper side, and also extremely bad at dieting. Hubby is a huge fitness freak as it is and with him playing the county Cricket this season, he is presently even more finicky about his diet. So, I didn’t dare bake a cheesecake for a long, long time thinking it will all go in my tummy, but the idea was slowly building up in my mind, waiting for the perfect excuse to crop up.

This week’s FoodieMonday Bloghop’s theme was a fabulous one! We had to prepare something using Coffee. As soon as the theme was announced, I instantly knew that I just had to bake a sinful, chocolaty dessert for this one. It had been so long. Matching my desire to bake a cheesecake with the theme for the week, I thought of fusing the two together and came up with the idea of making Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. Yep, this was surely the dessert of my dreams!

This recipe is such a keeper. You have to try it to see how amazing the combination is. A creamy layer of sweet cream cheese sitting on top of delicious Espresso flavoured brownies, served with Vanilla Ice-cream or smothered in Chocolate sauce…mmmm…It doesn’t get better than that, does it?

If you are a Coffee lover, you have to try this recipe. If you are a dessert-enthusiast, you have to try this recipe. If you wanna impress your family and friends with a fantastic dessert, YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS RECIPE!! I press you not only because these brownies are yummy, but also because they are so easy to make.

Try it friends, and have a lovely week ahead! xx

Ingredients:

For the brownie layer-

• 1/2 cup or 100 grams of unsalted butter, at room temperature.
  
• Around half of a dark chocolate bar of your choice.
  
• 1 Cup of Sugar
  
• A few drops of Vanilla Extract
  
• ¼ tsp of Salt
  
• 1 tbsp unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2-3 tsp of lukewarm water
  
• 1/2 Cup of All Purpose Flour

For the cream cheese layer-

• 200 grams of Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• A few drops of Vanilla Essence
• 1 egg

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
• In a bowl, combine your chocolate pieces and butter. Place the bowl over simmering water on low heat till the chocolate and butter melts. Mix until smooth and liquid. Switch off the gas and keep aside to cool.
• Add the sugar to your cooled mix and whisk till well-combined.
• Next, adding one egg at a time, beat well after each addition. I used a whisk but you can use a hand-blender as well. Throw in the Vanilla essence and the Espresso coffee solution as well and beat your batter well.
• Now substitute your whisk/hand blender for a spatula. In your batter, throw in the flour, cocoa powder and salt and gently fold in until everything is well-combined and there are no lumps remaining.
• With a spoon, extract around half cup of this batter in a separate bowl. Set aside. Pour the remaining of the batter into a baking tin lined with greased baking parchment. Set aside.
• Now let us prepare our top cheesecake layer.
• Transfer your Mascarpone cheese in a clean bowl and with a whisk, beat it till it looks smooth and fluffy.
• Add your sugar, 1 egg and vanilla essence to the cheese. Beat well until creamy but do not over-beat or it can thin out on us.
• Pour this silky mix on top of your brownie mix sitting inside the pan and with a flat spatula or a spoon, gently spread it evenly so it covers the entire surface of the brownie. Do not mix both the layers!
• With a spoon, put little circles of the brownie mix which we had reserved in a separate bowl earlier, on top of the cream cheese layer.

• With a skewer or a knife, create attractive swirls on the top layer of your brownie to get a marble layer.

• Bake your brownie for around 35-40 minutes, or until the sides of the cheese layer on top appears to turn brown on the sides. A tooth-pick inserted should come out with moist crumbs. This is the sign of fudgy brownies, it shouldn’t be dry.
• Cool your brownies completely at room temperature, before storing them in the fridge covered, in the cake pan itself to chill for atleast 3-4 hours. This step is very essential as your cream cheese layer has to chill to be set in a proper shape or it may collapse.
• Once chilled, cut your brownie in pieces and serve with chocolate sauce or a dollop of vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy!

*Notes-

You can store these brownies in refrigerator for 4-5 days in an air-tight container.