Do you do Valentines Day? I don’t. These Fresh Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies are perfect ANY day of the year! Rich and fudgy, and yet deliciously light, the fresh raspberries sing through the dark chocolate mixture creating my perfect brownie!
These brownies have the same base as my Salted Chocolate Brownies. I nearly always come back to that brownie recipe if I need to make a cake on short notice, or I want to make something that I KNOW will go down a storm with everyone. I’ve never had someone say they don’t like these brownies, EVER! I promise you they’re good.
So naturally, I wanted to try experimenting with them a bit. I nearly always eat these brownies with fresh raspberries, so pairing them with a sweet, fresh raspberry cheesecake mixture was perfect. The colour and flavour comes entirely from fresh raspberries as well, so nothing artificial or overly sweet, just beautiful, fresh raspberries doing their thing!
And now some thoughts on Valentines day… Caveat: I don’t normally share non food related things in my posts. I guess I feel like no one is really that interested in my life! I can’t write as beautifully as some of the amazing bloggers out there, who’s stories suck me in as they tell me so elegantly of something whilst also sharing a beautiful recipe. So I stick to food because that’s what I’m passionate about. But today I feel I have a little more to say, so I will. And if you want to just skip to the recipe, that’s fine too :)
We don’t celebrate Valentines Day, we never have and we never will. I think it’s more common these days to not be that bothered by this commercial occasion, so I’m not particularly “ground breaking” in my feelings towards it, but I do want to explain why.
I’ve been with Ben for nearly 6 years now, and we’re about half way through our 4th year of marriage. Currently, we live apart 4 days a week because of Ben’s job. Every day I learn more and more that you get out of marriage what you put into it. It is not a one way street that you get to take from and never give to. It is not the assurance that you will always be happy, because you won’t be. And it is definitely not relying on another human being to fulfil all of your needs all the time.
What I truly believe has kept us strong through the years so far, has been both of our commitments to always serve the other person first. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Ben would really do anything for me, like really, anything (that’s why he stayed up until 4am with me every night over Christmas designing the new Lauren Caris Cooks), and I would do the same for him. Love is NOT a feeling, it’s a choice. You make a decision to wake up and love someone every day, and when two people consistently do that for each other every day, you find that those loving “feelings”, just get deeper and stronger.
So I don’t feel a need to buy (or receive) a card or a present, or go out for an overly priced meal to celebrate love. Love should be celebrated every day in the humbling of ourselves for other people. For partners, friends, families and everyone you know.
I hope you enjoyed my little interlude. Enjoy the brownies :)
[cta id=”2723″ align=”none”]
Fresh Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies
Yields: 1 brownie
This recipe makes 1 brownie in a baking tray size 9 x 13 inch.
Ingredients:
For the Brownie
170g Butter, melted,
320g Caster Sugar,
3 Eggs,
112g All Purpose Flour,
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder,
85g Cocoa Powder,
40g Chocolate Chips.
For the Raspberry Cheesecake
200g Cream Cheese,
50g Caster Sugar,
120g Fresh Raspberries, pureed through a seive,
1 Egg Yolk.
Steps:
1. Make the brownie first Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Melt the butter in the microwave for 1 minute or on the stove.
2. Add the caster sugar to the melted butter and thoroughly stir to cool the butter. Add the eggs and beat in with a large spoon, fork or similar utensil.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder to the butter mixture and mix with a spoon until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed.
4. Put the mixture in the tray and smooth with a knife so it’s flat on top.
5. Strain the Raspberries through a sieve and catch the juice in a bowl. Add the cream cheese, egg yolk and sugar and beat thoroughly until the mixture is completely smooth.
6. Add dollops of the cheesecake mixture onto the brownie and use a knife to create swirls. Dot in a few more fresh raspberries before baking.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until there is a slight crust on top, but the overall mixture is still slightly wobbly. Place on a cooling rack to cool, then slice directly from the tray and enjoy!
