Like everyone's favorite slutty brownies, these brownies have four parts: the brownie itself, the layer of creamy cheesecake, the raspberry swirl, and a handful of fresh raspberries sprinkled on top. You can really use any type of fruit, but I love the contrast of the tart red raspberries on the sweet white cheesecake with a thick layer of fudgy brownies under it all.
The brownie layer is just my favorite brownie recipe. It's incredibly easy and equally chocolatey. It starts by mixing warm melted butter with sugar and a ton of cocoa powder. I then whisk in some vanilla and eggs, then a little bit of flour. Normally I add some chocolate chips, but they aren't entirely necessary given the richness of the rest of the recipe.
The cheesecake layer is fairly standard, though it is scaled down quite a bit from a normal-sized cheesecake. I aim to have about as much cheesecake as there is brownie. That means only one block of cream cheese, one egg, a dollop of sour cream, and a splash of vanilla. I like a simple vanilla cheesecake since it has to pair with the chocolate brownie and the raspberry swirl.
I use a small shortcut for the raspberry swirl by starting with raspberry jam as the base. It gets heated with a bit more sugar and a spoonful of water to loosen things up. I do add a handful of fresh raspberries for texture and to brighten it up a bit. Normally I would strain it, but that ruins the point of using the fresh berries. If you're looking to eliminate as many seeds as possible, you can heat the jam mixture minus the fresh berries until liquidy, strain it, stir in the berries, and heat it again, but that's a lot of effort for not much of a difference in my opinion.
To assemble the brownies, I spread the brownie batter on the bottom of a glass baking dish. I always use glass pans for brownies because they distribute the heat better to avoid burning the edges and ending up with gooey centers. The cheesecake layer is next; be gentle so that you don't pick up pockets of brownie batter with it. You should be equally careful with the raspberry swirl so that you don't end up with a pink raspberry cheesecake layer. I like to have a distinct red swirl, so I dot a few spoonfuls of the raspberry mixture on top and swirl them in just until it's fairly even. I also press a few more fresh raspberries in to catch any gaps and make sure every brownie has some raspberry. Of course, if you decide to forgo cutting it into smaller pieces and eat it as one large brownie (I'm not stopping you), technically every brownie will have raspberries.
1 Stick Butter
1 1/3 + 1/4 Cup + 2 T Sugar
3/4 Cup Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
3 Eggs
1/3 Cup Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips (Optional)
8 oz Cream Cheese, Softened
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
6 oz Raspberries
1/4 Cup Raspberry Jam
Heat oven to 325F and line an 8-9" square pan with parchment.
Melt the butter in a small pot over medium-low heat. Whisk 1 1/4 cups sugar and cocoa together, then add the butter. Whisk in 1 tsp vanilla and add two eggs one at a time, stirring until incorporated. Fold in the flour, baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and set aside.
Combine 4 oz raspberries, 2 T sugar, 2 T water, and the raspberry jam in a small pot. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Strain and set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add one egg, then stir in the sour cream, remaining vanilla, and remaining salt.
Spread the cheesecake mixture onto the brownie batter. Swirl in the raspberry puree and press the remaining raspberries on top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until almost set.
Makes 16
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