Raspberry cheesecake brownie

I recently bought the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and decided to start working my way through the recipes. The first recipe to catch my eye was this raspberry cheesecake brownie. In case it's not clear from the title, that is a layer of brownie, under a layer of cheesecake, and topped with raspberry whipped cream.

The light raspberry cream perfectly balances the rich dark chocolate brownie layer. YUMMY. There will definitely be more Hummingbird recipes to come!

Ingredients

For the brownie

200g dark chocolate
200g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
3 eggs
110g plain flour

For the cheesecake

400g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

For the cream topping

300ml whipping cream
100g icing sugar
150g raspberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking tray of about 33 x 23 x 5cm with greaseproof paper.

 

For the brownie

Roughly chop the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water) and leave until melted and smooth. Alternatively, if you're impatient like me then put it in the microwave but keep checking on it every 10 seconds and give it a good stir each time - when it only has a few lumps left, take it out of the microwave and stir through until it is fully melted and smooth.

Put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat until well incorporated. (If you have an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment.) Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl between each egg. Then gradually mix in the flour until you get a smooth mixture. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Pour into the pre-lined baking tray and level the surface (you want the layers to look equal when the final result is sliced).

For the cheesecake

Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and thick. Add one egg at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl between eggs. The mixture should be very smooth and creamy.

Pour the mixture on top of the brownie and, again, level the surface.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the cheesecake is firm to the touch and light golden around the edges. Once out of the oven, leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if possible.

 

For the cream topping

Beat the cream, icing sugar and raspberries until firm.

Take the cheesecake brownie out of the fridge, take it out of the baking tray and turn the right way up (i.e. brownie on the bottom). Spread the raspberry cream topping evenly over the cheesecake. If you have some leftover raspberries, you can use them to decorate.

BON APPETIT!

Raspberry cheesecake

The sun is out and spring is in full swing in Brussels. Now is the perfect time to start practising those summer desserts, and what is more appropriate for summer than fresh fruit on a light creamy cheesecake? 

I got this recipe from a Mary Berry recipe book. The cheesecake is so quick and easy to make, then just needs to be left in the fridge overnight to set.

Being in Belgium meant I had to play around with certain ingredients from Mary Berry's original recipe ... 

• Instead of using digestive biscuits and demerara sugar in the base, I used speculoos biscuits and brown sugar.

• Double cream by UK standards should apparently have a minimum milk fat percentage of 48%. The highest percentage I could find in my Brussels supermarket was 34% so the cream I used was not as thick as that which Mary Berry suggests.

• For the topping, Mary Berry suggested brushing 4 tbsp of redcurrant jelly (heated in a small saucepan until it has melted) over the fresh raspberries. Instead of this, I just blended a few of the raspberries and spooned this purée on top.

Below are the ingredients and method that I used.

 

Ingredients

For the base

175g speculoos biscuits

75g butter

40g brown sugar

For the cheesecake

225g soft cheese

25g caster sugar

150ml double cream

150ml Greek yoghurt

juice of 1½ lemons

For the topping

175g fresh raspberries

Instructions

Put the biscuits into a plastic bag and crush finely with a rolling pin.

Crushed speculoos biscuits

Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs and brown sugar. Press this mixture into the base of an 8 inch loose-based cake tin and then leave to set.

Cheesecake base

To make the cheesecake filling, measure the soft cheese and caster sugar into a large bowl (or food processor) and mix well to blend thoroughly. (I used my hand held whisk.) Add the cream and yoghurt and mix again. Gradually add the lemon juice little by little, whisking all the time. Turn the mixture into the tin over the biscuit base, level the surface and then place in the fridge overnight to chill.

Ready for the fridge!

When the cheesecake has had time to set in the fridge, run a knife around the edge (all the way down to the biscuit base) to loosen the cheesecake from the tin. Then push up the base or remove the sides of the tin and slide the cheesecake onto a serving plate.

Arrange the raspberries on top of the cheesecake. If you want to dress the raspberries up a bit, you can blend a few of the raspberries and then spoon this purée on top. I finished by dusting it with icing sugar.

Once decorated, leave to set. Serve chilled. Enjoy!

Decorated with raspberries