Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Although I’m usually firmly in the fudgy brownie camp, the raspberry cream cheese layer helped me forgive the slightly cakey texture.

This is relatively straightforward as written, but I seemed to have more than a few dollops’ worth of cream cheese. I ended up with a pretty solid layer of cheesecake that didn’t swirl very much, but it still tasted fine! Next time, I might add a little more jam to up the berry flavor, as my fresh berries were pretty lackluster.

Definitely a winning combination, but don’t look for fudgy brownies. This produces moist, cakey brownies, and they are most definitely better 24 hours after coming out of the oven, when all the flavors have melded together.

Everything was easy to assemble and perfectly written in terms of timing. I microwaved the chocolate and the butter for less than 2 minutes, starting with 1 minute and 30-second increments.

I let them cool for about 2 hours. They definitely tasted better the next day, especially when served with vanilla ice cream.

As soon as I read this recipe, I knew I had to make time to test it. I quickly finished my homework and, with the help of my little sister, started working on it. Of course, this was also a great excuse to buy 2 containers of raspberries—just in case 1 was not enough. It’s super easy to follow and is made with very few ingredients.

The brownies took 35 minutes exactly. The taste was awesome—not too sweet and the raspberry flavor was very prominent. Is it a brownie or a raspberry cheesecake? It’s a perfect mix of both in my book. How can anyone say no to chocolate and raspberries? Even my little sister, who doesn’t care much for chocolate, loved these.

Whoa man, these rocked. One bite and the fussing over a double boiler is forgotten, the hassle of washing the mixing bowl gone, and the confusion about how to “dollop” then “swirl” the liquidy cheesecake topping is ancient history. And really, these are not hard things. Everything was washed up and put away before the bake was over.

And by that time, I was on to thinking about other things—like how sad it was that there were only 9, and if I eat 3 warm, 3 fridge-cold, and 3 frozen, then they’d already be gone.

And how nice it was that my package of raspberries yielded 18 that were not squishy or moldy or otherwise affected by the fact that it was February and that there were exactly 2 berries per portion. This is my brain.

I didn’t have any problems with sticking, even though my parchment only had cooking spray, no flour. The 5 minutes in the double boiler was spot-on. I would’ve preferred using the microwave in 30-second bursts on 50% power. I cooled the mixture while I measured the dry ingredients.

Next time I’ll leave lots of peaks and valleys when I put the brownie layer in the pan so the layers will be more varied. I baked them for 43 minutes. It seems like a long time, but they weren’t close to being done at 35 minutes. Once cooled, they were still pretty gooey, proving they weren’t dried out. They were good warm but even better the next day cold from the fridge, nice and fudgy. The tart raspberries were my favorite part. I’ll definitely make these again.

These were quite tasty and not cloyingly sweet. They were easy to make and came together quickly. There seemed to be more than enough of the cheesecake layer. Instead of dropping it in dollops, I simply spread it on top and then used a butter knife to swirl it into the chocolate layer. The result was a paisley pattern that was pretty during baking but disappeared after baking. But it still tasted good.

Love this small-batch dessert— just the right amount to share and with a special topping to make it more delicious and appealing. I only make something like this when I can share it, and since I shared it with my workout buddies, I made it 12 servings instead of 9, and they were rich enough to satisfy even the most opinionated brownie-lovers in the crew.

I was grateful to be able to limit myself to a single one the evening I made them, and, strictly for quality control purposes, another the next morning with coffee. The verdict was unanimously delish. I think they were even better when refrigerated overnight. I loved the slight fudginess the second day, but my tasters were eagerly circling the batch as they cooled.

If you’re feeling greedy, cut them into 9 portions. One of my tasters suggested making it 4 servings! I think 12 worked, and for the “oh, I could only have a bite” crowd, take those 12 and cut them diagonally in half and place them in paper liners on a silver platter.)

This is almost a pantry dessert, as most ingredients are easily on hand, and where I live fresh organic raspberries are seemingly available all year round. I had nearly the right amount of chocolate in a Dark Bitter Valrhona (a 3.5-ounce bar). Borrowing a tip from Alice Medrich, I melted the chocolate in a Pyrex measuring glass set inside a pan of simmering water. Not only does this make melting chocolate safe and almost foolproof, but with the volume, the chocolate phase could continue in this 2-cup jug.

The cream cheese topping comes together very easily, especially with the cream cheese completely at room temperature, requiring nothing sturdier than a silicone spatula. The cheesecake mixture ended up being more like a complete covering, but it was easy to marble with a few strokes, and I planned the placement of the berries as best I could to make sure that each piece would have 1 to 2 berries. The baking time of 40 minutes was almost accurate. I gave it another 4 to 5 and checked it using the Thermapen, which read just over 200℉ with the slightest crumb on it.

Once cooled, they had a lush denseness. These slice up really pretty, and you could easily serve them as mini-dessert bites for a very special party.

These raspberry cheesecake brownies were very good. By the way, I always dust my pans with cocoa powder instead of flour to prevent white spots on the bottom when making any type of chocolate dessert.

I’m a sucker for a good brownie, and somewhat of a brownie purist, so I was anxious to try the “base” of this recipe, without the cheesecake topping, and I was pleasantly surprised. These brownies came together in just a few minutes and into the oven they went.

I did make a few modifications. First, based on what I could find at the store, I used semisweet chocolate chunks instead of bittersweet. To compensate for the extra sugar in the semisweet, I reduced the 3/4 cup sugar to 1/2 cup sugar for the actual chocolate brownie part. I didn’t want to use a double boiler to melt the chocolate: chopped chocolate pieces/chips can be carefully melted in the microwave in 15 seconds intervals stirring at each interval until just melted, or also in a saucepan on the stove over extremely low heat, the gentlest of simmers, stirring constantly with a whisk to avoid scorching or burning.

I immediately whisked in the eggs and they didn’t curdle because the saucepan was barely warm at this point. The additional ingredients were measured and mixed in less than two minutes. Use parchment if you have it, it’ll save you from clean up and I didn’t even butter my parchment and the brownies released beautifully.

I absolutely love the ease of this recipe, and my method only dirtied one saucepan. I must say the brownies were delicious and served with Strauss vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, chopped almonds, and Maraschino cherries, they fulfilled my craving for a delicious brownie sundae. I’d definitely make these brownies again. They are more cake-like than fudgy and they hit the spot and were a cinch to make!