Try Something New Tuesday # 1

 

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies.

 

Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you my first ever attempted at making the sweet, yum and dreamy looking Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies with you. The reasons I decided to do this series of weekly recipe blogs was because I wanted to start trying new recipes, I loved looking at the beautiful pictures on Pinterest and lastly because it was about time I started introducing the children to new foods and treats. One day soon I can see the children demanding that I STOP making cupcakes all the time and maybe try some cookies.

 

So with this in mind I created this series and I hope that it helps me broaden my horizons within the world of food. Our first ever recipe comes from Christina over at Sweet Pea's Kitchen and I have to say that just looking at her beautiful pictures makes you want to run to the kitchen and start baking. I made a few changes because the original recipe used ounces and not grams and Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. I also rounded things up because I still haven't found my kitchen scales and with it been a public holiday here is Queensland none of the shops were open tonight.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

60g dark chocolate, grated

1 cup castor sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons red food colouring

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

250g cream cheese at room temperature

1/3 cup castor sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C°. Butter an 8 inch metal baking pan and place a long piece of baking paper in the bottom of the pan. Allow the paper to extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. This will make removal easy. Butter the baking paper.

2. In a small, heatproof bowl, add the butter and chocolate together. Melt in the microwave in short 20 second bursts. Stir with a metal spoon until it's smooth and combined. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food colouring. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Add the flour, stir until just combined and there are no streaks of dry ingredients remaining.

4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

5. To prepare the cheesecake mixture, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until its smooth. Place 8 large dollops of cheesecake mixture over the batter that's in the pan. Using a knife swirl the brownie mixture and cheesecake mixture together.

6. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the brownie and cheesecake mixtures are set. A knife inserted into the cheesecake mixture should come out clean and the edges will be lightly browned.

7. Let it cool completely in the pan before lifting the baking paper out to remove the brownies.

8. Place the brownie onto a bread board and cut it into small or large pieces.

 

This recipe was fairly easy to follow but I would recommend not making the entire recipe while been on the telephone to your sister in Townsville. I spent a little over two hours on the telephone with my sister last night so I basically did everything one handed, which at times was a little difficult but because I'm a mum and I can multitask I was able to pull it off. Mr Opoes liked the look of the brownies this morning and when I gave him a piece his eyes lit up, he thought all his Christmas's had come at once. So I thought I'd show you a picture of what it turned out like so that we can compare my Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies to those that Christina made.

 

Christina's Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

 

My version of Christina's Red Velvet
Cheesecake Brownies.

 

I'm thinking that I'll make this again but I'll only make it for Mr Opoes as the children will polish this off in a few minutes. If time permits I may put this on my Christmas day lunch menu but I'll have to see if that's what everyone wants this Christmas. I hope that you will come back next Tuesday to see how I've gone at making a main meal that the kids aren't the greatest fans of. I'll be giving Jamie Oliver's Killer Mac 'n' Cheese a go as one of our main meals this week.

 

Remember if there is anything you want to suggest that I try making leave me a comment with a link or the dish name and I will add it to my Pinterest board. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you next time for an American classic.

 

Megan