Cheesecake Raspberry Brownies (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

I absolutely love cheesecake, and I absolutely love brownies--so does my lovely companion--so what would be better than merging the two into one fabulous morsel? Fudgy, dense, dark brownie smothered in rich, thick, creamy cheesecake, swirled with tangy, fruity raspberry jam; what's not to like?

I've seen lots of recipes online for cheesecake brownies, but usually the brownie mixture and the cheesecake mixture are partially mixed together then baked simultaneously as one large confection; it's not common to see them cooked as two separate layers. This was a delicious experiment, which led to another trial with the ever illusive perfect brownie recipe.

This brownie recipe is another variation on my recent trials with replacing flour in cake recipes: by replacing two-thirds of the flour in a classic sponge cake with dark chocolate, and omitting the liquid, you get a deliciously dense brownie.

I thought this brownie recipe was so perfectly delicious that I actually retrospectively edited my previous blog post on fudgy brownies. I thought instead of muddying up the waters with lots of contradictory brownie recipes, I'd just update the one I wrote for Ice-Cream Month.

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DIFFICULTY

Simple techniques, but time consuming

TIME

2 hours, plus an overnight chill

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes one 9 inch (22 centimetre) square cheesecake brownie

2 medium (US Large) eggs

4 ounces (115 grammes) unsalted butter, or baking margarine

4 ounces (115 grammes) plain or dark chocolate, 55%-70% cocoa, or dairy-free chocolate

3 ounces (85 grammes) soft light brown sugar

3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar

2 ounces (55 grammes) plain spelt flour

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla

Up to 2 tablespoons (up to 30 millilitres) cocoa powder, to taste

Cheesecake topping

1 pound (455 grammes) full fat cream cheese, or silken tofu, or unsweetened coconut cream

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) Greek yoghurt, or sour cream, or soya yoghurt, or coconut yoghurt

4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar

2 medium (US Large) eggs

1 tablespoon (15 millilitres vanilla essence

Jammy topping

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) seedless raspberry jam

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) cornflour

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice

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FREE FROM

Nuts, gluten, yeast

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), maize, refined sugar

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METHOD

First, make the brownie layer

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F, Gas Mk.3), line a 9 inch (22 centimetre) square tin with tin foil, and lightly grease the tin foil.
• In a microwave safe bowl, or heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. Allow to cool slightly.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and thickened in consistency.
• Beat in the vanilla, and then slowly add the melted chocolate in a stream, beating all the time with the electric mixer, until all the chocolate is incorporated.
• Sieve in the flour, then fold through gently with a metal spoon or silicone spatula. Pour the mixture into the tin, and smooth out the top as much as you can.
• Bake for 20 minutes on the centre shelf, or until the top is dry and a cocktail stick comes out clean when poked into the middle of the cake. Allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.

Then, make the cheesecake layer

• Place the jam in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it melts and begins to simmer. Mix the cornflour, lemon juice, and a few teaspoons of water together in a cup to make a slurry.
• Beat in the slurry and continue to cook for a minute or two, until the mixture thickens. Allow to cool completely before using in the cheesecake.
• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2)
• In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon until smooth, and then beat in the yoghurt, or sour cream. Mix the sugar in gently until completely incorporated.
• Gently mix in the eggs, one at a time, until completely blended. Try not to beat to hard, as beating the eggs can add in too much air and cause the cheesecake to crack.
• Pour the mixture out onto the brownie layer, smooth out as well as you can, then dollop the jam on top in polka dots all over the top.
• Using a cocktail stick or thin knife, swirl the jam into the cheesecake. I did this by running the cocktail stick back and forth in across, then up and down, then diagonally.
• Bake on the centre shelf for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the outside edge of the cake is firm and set, but the centre is still a little jiggly. It shouldn't be liquidy, just jiggly like a firm jelly.
• Open the oven door and turn off the oven, and allow it to cool to room temperature, about an hour or two. Transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

STORAGE

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Neapolitan Cheesecake (Wheat Free)

It was this August bank holiday weekend, 2015, that my little sister turned 18 years old, and was no longer little. For her birthday she requested cheesecake, and cheesecake I provided!

Despite not being able to decide between a chocolate or a strawberry cheesecake, she had very specific instruction that the cheesecake be of the chilled variety, and definitely not baked. She spent so much time umming and aahing about which flavour she wanted, that I decided to make both.

Now, as I have mentioned in my previous Neapolitan adventures, here in Ireland it's vanilla, strawberry, and lemon, not chocolate. However, to fit in with my sister's request, I did the typical white pink brown combination.

I didn't really know how to decorate it once I had made it, but at the moment sprinkling biscuit or cake crumbs onto the finished cake is in vogue, so jumping on the bandwagon kinda worked this time. You can decorate your cake however you want, though.

Taking the recipe I used to make her cheesecake last year, I decided to play with it a little to see if I could make it more of a formula instead of a static recipe, dividing the ingredients into parts and ratios. It worked very well: in fact, there was an opinion among the consumers that it was one of my finest cheesecake creations.

This recipe has been slightly edited so that the chocolate and strawberry layers are equal. In my cake, the chocolate layer was a little deeper than the strawberry one.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts
☑ Eggs

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Dairy

INGREDIMENTS

For biscuit base,

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) porridge oats
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) cocoa powder
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) butter, at room temperature
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• Pinch of salt

For chocolate layer,

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) whipping cream, cold
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) good quality milk chocolate
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 millilitres) caster sugar, to taste

For strawberry layer,

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) whipping cream, cold
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) strawberry jam, at least 50% fruit content
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) lime juice, or 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) of lemon juice
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 millilitres) caster sugar, to taste

For white chocolate icing,

• 7 ounces (200 grammes) whipping cream
• 3½ ounces (100 grammes) white chocolate, in small pieces
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

METHOD

First, make the base.

• Line the sides of an 8 inch (20 centimetre) round loose bottomed tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mk.4).
• In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, oats, cocoa, salt, and caster sugar together until blended. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients to make a coarse crumbly mixture.
• Tip the mixture into the tin and even out with the back of a spoon, pressing very gently. 
• If you want, you can take a tablespoon or two of the crumbs and bake separately to make the topping: just sprinkle them on a small ovenproof dish and bake alongside the main crust
• Bake for 10 minutes, only enough to set the crust. Take out of the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Once the base is cold, make the chocolate layer.

• In a bowl or jug, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 1 minute intervals on the Defrost setting, mixing between each spin in the microwave. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate traditionally in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate until fully mixed. Add the sugar to taste: you may not need all the sugar.
• In a separate bowl or jug, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Fold gently but quickly into the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Taste for sweetness again, adding more sugar if you want, but working quickly to not deflate the mixture.
• Pour into the tin on top of the crust and smooth out evenly. Chill for an hour before adding the strawberry layer.

To make the strawberry layer,

• In a small bowl, beat the jam to make it smooth and to even out the texture.
• As before, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl, then fold in the jam until fully mixed. Add the lime juice, and then add the sugar to taste.
• Whip the cream in a separate jug or bowl until it forms stiff peaks, then fold into the strawberry cream cheese mixture. Taste for sweetness again, adding more sugar if needed.
• Pour on top of the chocolate layer, smoothing out with a spoon. Put in the fridge to chill overnight.

Also make the whipped white chocolate icing,

• Put the broken white chocolate in a small mixing bowl or large jug.
• Heat the whipping cream either in a saucepan over medium heat, or in the microwave, until it reaches simmering point: little bubbles should appear around the edges and it should be steaming hot.
• Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and let it stand for about 2 minutes. Then, mix thoroughly with a spoon or balloon whisk; the heat of the mix will have started to melt the chocolate.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge to chill overnight with the cheesecake.

The next day, assemble the master piece.

• An hour before you intend to serve your cake, you will need to ice it. Take the white chocolate cream and whip it until it makes soft peaks.
• Use half of the cream to ice the sides very carefully. Make sure that your icing utensil, whether it's a palette knife, table knife, or the back of a spoon, only touches the icing layer, and not the cheesecake layer: this will prevent smearing.
• Put the remaining half in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe a rosette design around the edge of the top.
• Sprinkle the biscuit crumbs on the top, if you like, or leave it plain.

This cake is very rich and indulgent, and this cake can serve up to 16 people, so eat with caution. It will keep in the fridge, covered, for about 3 to 5 days.

THIS TIME IN 2014: How NOT to Make Hazelnut Ice-Cream
THIS TIME IN 2013: Traditional Coconut Ice

Coffee and White Chocolate Checkerboard Cake (Wheat Free)

Fancy something a little bit more about the visual impact? Well, here we are....

Tada! A checkerboard inside! I was inspired to try a checkerboard cake as a practise run for a surprise that is coming up at the beginning of next month (keeping you in suspense), and I did a bit of researching on Pinterest and Google Images. A lot of recipes use a special concentric circle cake tin, but I just used a normal cake tin and cut out the circles with a variety of cups. This is only a little cake, so you'd have to cut around plates or bowls for a larger cake.

I was really pleased with the results, and the nice glaze coating was a nice touch too. I've found that it's best to thinly ice a cake before glazing, so the glaze is all smooth and consistent. I alternated coffee and vanilla flavoured sponge, and then used coffee and white chocolate icing. It was a success, both visually and taste-wise.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Eggs
☒ Dairy
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS

1 four inch (10 centimetre) layer cake

For the vanilla cake:

• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) white spelt flour
• ½ ounce (15 grammes) cornflour
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking power
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) sunflower oil
• 1 medium egg
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) milk, or water
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence, or the seeds of ½ a vanilla pod

For the coffee cake:

• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) white spelt flour
• ½ ounce (15 grammes) cornflour
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking power
• 1½ ounces (40 grammes) caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) instant espresso powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) sunflower oil
• 1 medium egg
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) strong coffee, cooled

For the white chocolate coffee glaze/icing:

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
• 2 fluid ounces (60 millilitres) strong coffee
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) white chocolate, broken
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

METHOD

To make the cakes:

• Preheat oven 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mk.4). Grease a 4 inch (10 centimetre) round sandwich tin with a little butter or margarine. 
• Prepare the vanilla cake recipe following this method, using a spoonful of the dry ingredients to dust the greased tin. Return the excess back to the bowl, then continue making the cake.
• Bake the cake for 20 to 25 minutes, until springy to the touch and a cocktail stick poked into the centre comes out clean.
• While the cake is still warm, loosen from the tin and turn out onto a wire rack. Wash the tin, and grease again.
• Prepare the coffee cake recipe following the same method, using a spoonful of the dry ingredients to dust the greased tin. Return the excess back to the bowl, then continue making the cake.
• Bake as before, then turn out onto a wire rack in the same way. When the cakes are cool, cut off the domes, making sure the cakes are the same height.
• Measure the cakes with a ruler, and slice in half horizontally. Look through your kitchen for cups, glasses, bottle lids or anything round that can be used for cutting. Choose one that is 2½ inches (6 centimetres) across, and one that is 1¼ inches (3 centimetres) across.
• Cut each cake slice into rings using at first the larger cutter, then the smaller cutter. You'll have two concentric rings of cake and a little disk from each slice.
• Arrange the slices so that each layer has an alternating pattern of vanilla and coffee cake, to make the checkerboard. Two layers should be going vanilla-coffee-vanilla, then the other two should be coffee-vanilla-coffee (You'll only be using three layers, so you can use the extra layer for something else or to snack on.)

Like this, then the other ones should be the inverse

• To make this cake, I used two coffee-vanilla-coffee layers, and one vanilla-coffee-vanilla layer. If you look at the photographs you can see how I arranged them.

To make the glaze (which is also the glue):

• In a saucepan, melt the sugar and coffee together on medium heat. Bring to the boil, and boil for a few seconds until the bubbles become a little less violent.
• Remove from the heat, and stir in the broken chocolate, allowing the heat to melt it.
• Return to the heat, reduced to low, and continue to stir until smooth and glossy.

To assemble the cake:

• Put the bottom layer on plate and, using a little bit of the white chocolate mixture while it's still runny, spread a little bit round the inside of the circular holes in each ring so the cake fuses.
• Spread some of the glaze on the top of the layer, and build the next layer. Repeat with the last layer.
• Allow the rest of the glaze to set to a spreading consistency icing, then use some to make a thin crumb coat. Chill in the fridge until fully chilled, about 30 to 40 minutes, then allow to temper to room temperature for about 10 minutes.
• Return the remaining icing to the heat and reheat until flowing again, but not hot. Put the cake on a wire rack with a plate underneath, and pour the glaze over, coaxing it over the edges with the back of a teaspoon. Use the back of the teaspoon to make a pattern on the top, and decorate with silver dragées if you like, or any other decoration.
• Allow the glaze to stop dripping, then let sit for about 5 minutes afterwards. Transfer to a serving plate.

This sized cake is ideal for a two or three person celebration, and has the added cute factor. This was a successful trial run for my next checkerboard project coming soon....

THIS TIME IN 2014: No blog
THIS TIME IN 2013: No blog

Orange Chocolate Fudge (Naturally Gluten-Free)

Want to know what the most delicious thing is in the world? Orange chocolate. I'll let the photo do the talking.

Let's move onto the recipe...

INGREDIMENTS
This is a large quantity that will make about 1¼ pounds (570 grammes) of fudge, but I've found it can be easily halved or even quartered. Just be really careful when making small batches because it can burn or crystallise easily.

• 16 ounces (450 grammes) caster sugar
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) cream
• 4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) milk
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange or a few drops of orange essence
• Orange food colouring
• 6 ounces (170 grammes) milk or dark chocolate
• 1½ ounce (40 grammes) sunflower oil
• Optional: sugar strands, hundreds and thousands or coloured sugar

HOW-TO

• Prepare an 8 inch (20 centimeter) square tin by either greasing it lightly or lining it with non-stick baking paper. You could also use a silicone baking tin, which needs no greasing or lining.
• In a heavy-based large saucepan, heat the cream, milk and butter until the butter has melted.
• Pour the sugar into the middle of the pan so that it forms a little mountain in the middle, then gently bring in the milk mixture from the edges. Your aim here is to get as little sugar as possible on the edges of the pan, as this can cause your fudge to go grainy.
• Stir the mixture over medium-low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a pastry brush dipped in hot water, wash the sugar crystals from the side of the pan. Alternatively, you can just pop the lid on the pan for a minute to allow the steam to wash it all away instead.
• Once the sugar has dissolved and there is no evidence of sugar crystals left, bring the mixture to the boil and once boiling clip a sugar thermometre to the side of the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the whole thing reaches 118°C (245°F). Please don't stir!
• While the fudge is cooking, fill your sink or wash basin with about 2 inches (5 centimetres) of cold water.
• Once the fudge has reached temperature, take the pan from the heat and dip the bottom in the cold water to stop cooking immediately. Leave the mixture to cool for 12 minutes (a minute per ounce (28 grammes) of sugar).
• Add the zest or orange essence and add enough food colouring to make it a nice pale orange. 
• Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until thick, creamy and opaque. The mixture will slightly lose its shine and become more matte, and the consistency will be like freshly made Mr Whippy soft serve ice-cream. 
• Pour into your prepared tin and allow to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes until cool to touch.
• Melt the chocolate in a basin over simmering water or in the microwave and then mix in the sunflower oil. Pour this glaze over the top of the orange layer and shake until level. If you like, you can decorate with the sugar strands, hundreds and thousands or coloured sugar.
• Allow to set for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Do not even think of setting it in the fridge: you can store it in the fridge once set, but setting the fudge in the fridge will cause crystallisation. Store in an air tight container to avoid it catching any unwanted odours or flavours.