For some reason these brownies (How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking
Along with many of my forum friends I am passionate about brownies and I always on the lookout for a new recipe to try. The fact that this particular recipe for the cream cheese variety had so many poor reviews just spurred me on. The combination of sweet and savory in a brownie – it was either going to be fabulous or totally disgusting, but I have to admit I trust Nigella’s judgement and jumped (metaphorically speaking of course) straight into the recipe with both feet.
I’m so glad I did, I couldn’t find a fault with them, other than they took around 15 minutes longer to cook than the recipe stated, but that’s not exactly a terrible hardship.
Believe me I’ve made many a tray of brownies but, these were the quickest to disappear off the cake stand.
I used Mascarpone instead of Philadelphia as that was the only soft cheese I had in the house. I don’t know if that made them any better or not, but I do know it added a slight saltiness which brought out the deep flavour of the chocolate.
I often find that brownies are so sweet they become sickly, certainly not the case here. I’m still trying to decide if that’s a good or bad thing, well I suppose it’s good for my taste-buds but not so good for my waistline.
The photo might not be too great, in fact, it’s rather deceptive and misleading, as the brownies were gorgeous, moist, chewy morsels.
The Recipe:
125g dark chocolate
125g unsalted butter
2 large eggs
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g plain flour
pinch of salt
200g cold Philadelphia cream cheese
23cm square tin, 4cm deep, greased and lined
1. Preheat oven to 180/gas 4
2. Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat in a heavy based pan.
3. Beat the eggs with sugar and vanilla.
4. Measure the flour into another bowl and add salt.
5. When the chocolate has all but completely melted, take the pan off the heat – the residual heat in the mixture will finish it off.
6. Leave for a bit to cool slightly before beating in the eggs and sugar.
7. Finally add the flour, and beat till smooth.
8. Pour half the mixture into the tin, slice the Philly as thinly as you can and put it on the mixture in the tin, pour the remaining mixture over the top.
9. Smooth the mix so that all the cream cheese is covered.
10. Bake for about 20 minutes – the top should be slightly paled and dry, but a skewer should reveal a slightly sticky centre. Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into little squares.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
OK, you’ve convinced me! This is the next Brownie I’m going to try making. I love the idea, but had been a little discouraged by other people thinking that they weren’t great. The photo looks wonderful.
Norm xxx
Mascarpone?! Bet these were heavenly, George. They look moist and gooey just the way we love ‘em.
I think the photo’s pretty good, who doesn’t like a cracked top brownie
I made them a few years ago and everybody liked them. I have so many brownie recipes to try that I haven’t made them again though.
I’m thinking of making cream cheese brownies soon, these look great!
They look great, your picture is lovely.
I love the contrast of cheese in brownies and yours look delicious. I mostly remember them being a layer of brownie with a layer of cheesecake on top, but I love the swirling effect I have been seeing lately.
I also love the look of your new blog. I can’t wait to read more.
George, your brownies look wonderful!
I’ve made these before a while back and we all liked them.
xx
Keep up the good work!.
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