Cream Cheese Brownies

Last New Year's Eve, when we went home to my husband's hometown, I met his cousins from Manila.  I instantly love them because they all love food and they all love making good food.  His cousin Tin, brought home some baked goodies, a delectable brownies topped with cream cheese.  It was so awesome, I think I have 5-6 of those small squares while my husband had about the same.

Last night boredom hit me once more.  And what else to do but to do some kitchen fix and have the oven running.  I remembered how much husband and I loved the taste of Cream Cheese Brownies and I thought why not try making one since we have a big slab of Chocolate untouched for about 4 months now.

What I love about this brownies is the complementing taste of the dense fudge-like chocolate brown with the cream cheese.  The tanginess of the cream cheese tempers the rich chocolate taste. I definitely enjoy eating two of my favorites, chocolate and cheesecake in one bite.

I would like to share this wonderful treat with the recipe below:

Ingredients

Brownie Layer:
110 grams unsalted butter
115 grams sweetened chocolate
200 grams sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
65 grams all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Layer:
225 grams full fat cream cheese
65 grams granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

Instructions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325 F or 160 C.

2)  Ready a 9 inch pan lined with aluminum foil.

3)  In a bowl, mix butter and chocolate.  Place in a pan of simmering water to melt mixture.

4)  Remove bowl from hit and whisk in sugar, vanilla extract all purpose flour, salt.  Add in eggs one at a time.  Mix together.

5)  The secret to a fudge-like dense brownie is less flour, no leavening and an addition of air into the mixture.  So whip mixture vigorously to add air and to have a homogenous mixture.

6)  Remove a 1/2 cup of the chocolate batter to be used later.  Pour the remaining mixture into the 9 inch square pan.

7)  In a food processor, place cream cheese, egg, and sugar.  Mix until smooth and have no lumps.

8)  Spread mixture on top of the brownie batter.

9)  Spoon 16 dallops of brownie batter evenly on top of the cream cheese mixture.

10) Run a knife back and forth through the two batters until you have a marble effect.

11) Bake for 30 minutes or when the toothpick comes out with a few crumbsafter inserting it into the brownies.

12) Cool down or refrigerate before serving.


Fresh from the oven!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

When I went to Singapore, I have been craving to bake. I was so bored that I have been thinking of what to put into the oven for another delicious treat.

So when I arrived home, I am up and eager to have the oven on the loose. =) 

 

Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon baking soda (add to pureed bananas)
3 pureed bananas, very ripe

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake lids in the baking pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Sift flour several times, then add the salt and baking powder to the flour.
3. To the creamed butter mixture, add the milk and flour alternatly.
4. Add vanilla and mashed bananas (with the baking soda added to the bananas) to this mixture.
5. Bake for 25-40 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients
1/2 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 box powdered sugar (1 lb.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Frosting Directions:
1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth, add sugar and vanilla and blend well. Spread on cooled cake.  Sprinkle rainbow candies on top (optional).