Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake Recipe : Double Decker, Double Delicious!

I have been hanging on to a recipe for 'Cheesecake Brownies' for a few years now, always intending to make it but never getting around to it for some reason. But finally, I made it! And I am glad I did. But I felt the recipe did need a little work - with more chocolate brownie and less cheesecake - so I played around with it and ended up doubling the brownie and halving the cheesecake and voila! an amazing dessert was born.  So here is the recipe for Brownie Cheesecake (the end result of my experiments seemed to call for a flipping of the name).

With this cake, be prepared that you need to start at least 8 hours before serving it (or make one day in advance) because you need 2 hours of preparation, including one hour to freeze the base brownie layer and the entire cheesecake also needs to chilled thoroughly before slicing.

The original recipe was printed on a card by Galison New York (www.galison.com) and originally adapted from a recipe by Nicole Kaplan in Baking from the Heart: Our Nation's Best Bakers Share Recipes They Cherish for The Great American Bake Sale, Rosen (Broadway Books), 2004.


The Ultimate Brownie Cheesecake


Time: 1 hour, plus 1 hour, 15 minutes, plus cooling time (6 hours) before slicing. Cheesecakes are best made a day in advance of serving, and need to be very cold before slicing.

Brownie Layer Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1o cut/2 cup cup light brown sugar
10 ounces 70% dark chocolate
1/2 cup, plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used Camino organic/Fair Trade brand)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup flour

Cream Cheese Layer Ingredients:
3 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs

Chocolate Ganache Topping Ingredients:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream

1. Grease a 9" or 10" round springform pan (I used 10") and line it with a round of parchment paper (to cut: place your pan on top of the parchment paper and draw a circle around the base of it, then cut it out. Grease your pan under the parchment paper and, once you place the parchment inside, grease the paper as well.

2. Place a pot on the stove with 1" of water in it. Bring to a simmer and turn down to Min. or level 1.
Place the first three ingredients of the brownie batter (butter, brown sugar, 10 ounces of chocolate) into either a stainless steel bowl, a medium sized pot (that fits over your pot of water) or glass bowl and place over the pot of barely simmering water on the stove. I find stainless steel works best. Heat and stir until fully melted.

3. Remove from heat, add sugar, eggs and cake flour. Mix with a hand mixer or immersion blender just until smooth.

4. Pour into the prepared pan. Freeze for 1 hour or longer until firm.

5. After an hour, preheat the oven to 350º F. Then combine the cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl, mix on medium until combined and smooth (no lumps), then add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the beaters between each addition. Once combined, scrape the bottom of the bowl, then beat on high for 10 seconds to ensure there are no lumps left.  Pour into your prepared, chilled pan with the brownie layer in it.

6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the cream cheese layer is golden and only jiggles a little in the middle when the pan is gently shaken.

7. Let cool for a half hour, and run a knife around the sides of the pan. Chill for at least 1 or 2 hours before adding the ganache topping.


To prepare the ganache:

1. Place the cream and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth (add back to microwave for 5 second intervals until fully melted).

2. Pour onto the top of the cake and push to the edges. Let drip down the sides for a delicious effect.