Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Kelly

Did you know: Today is National Cheesecake Day!

*I apologize for the delay in this post and for teasing you about this Cheesecake Factory goodness when there is only a couple of hours minutes left in the day. Obviously I started this post earlier than I started baking.*

Not only does this mean that you should eat some cheesecake deliciousness today, but if you live near a Cheesecake Factory Restaurant you can get any one of their delicious slices for 50% off!! Today only!

Unfortunately, the closest Cheesecake Factory to me is about an hour away. So, instead of spending the two hours round trip driving, I thought I would make a dessert in honor of this delicious day.

This is not your typical cheesecake – but I think that only makes it better!

This recipe comes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. I found it online here – but I will warn you that it is in the UK so you will have to convert grams and cm and stuff 🙂 Hummingbird Bakery is actually in the UK, so this all makes sense. I, fortunately, have the cookbook and it is all translated into nicer Americanized numbers for me.

A few things I changed:

I used semisweet instead of bittersweet chocolate, because I already had some on hand.
I melted the chocolate in the micrvowave instead of on the stove in (essentially) a double boiler. It didn’t seem like it would make a difference and I’m not even sure that I have two pans that could work as a double boiler.

Let me start out by saying that this recipe is not easy. I did not choose it because it would be quick and simple, I chose it because it sounded delicious! And I am willing to put in time for deliciousness.

Step 1: Brownie Layer

I was very tempted to just use a box of brownie mix for this step. But I didn’t. It really wasn’t that bad and I’m hoping that the extra work will be worth it in the long run!

Step 2: Cheesecake Layer

Ok, lets back up a second. In between Step 1 and Step 2, I had to clean out my mixer bowl.

And now you are thinking “She sure is lazy. She can’t even clean up after herself?”

Heres the thing. I prefer to clean up my mess after I’m done and things are in the oven. Not in the middle of the recipe. Also, apparently melted chocolate is not easy to clean off of stainless steel. It took a lot more elbow grease to get that bowl clean that I think it should have. Either that or I don’t have very much elbow grease. 🙂

After the cheesecake mixture is made, it gets spread on top of the brownie mixture and that gets baked.

After that is done baking, it needs to cool and then be refrigerated. Waiting time. I am not good at waiting time. This particular waiting time is also cleaning time – because I will need to use that same mixer bowl AGAIN for the last step.

Let me say this again. This recipe is not quick nor or easy.

And, if I have not made this clear from previous posts, I don’t like waiting.

Step 3: Raspberry Topping

After this step, I refrigerated it again before I ate it. Mostly because I probably should have refrigerated it longer the first time.

Final product:

Yum Yum Yum.

As I suspected, it was worth the time and trouble.

Although, I think the sugar content was too much for me. It was really sugary tasting. I think if I were to make it again, I would add more raspberries to the topping in an attempt to make it taste less sugary and more berry.

Ease: C, again, not an easy recipe. But sometimes it is worth it to take the extra time to make something extra special.
Taste: A-, a bit too sugary for me but still really good.

Would I make it again? I’m not sure. It did take a really long time, so I don’t think it would be my first choice.

Did you celebrate National Cheesecake Day?

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