Better than brownies... Cheesecake brownies!!

Okay, so I looooove cheesecake. The one thing I possibly love more is cheesecake baked into cake. For some reason it's just heaven for me.  Cheesecake frosting is also a front-runner in the list of my favourite things to eat. Anyway, the brownie recipe that I posted is awesome in itself, but I've found that a way to make it even better (in my opinion) is to turn it into a cheesecake brownie.

The brownie recipe is exactly the same as the one I posted before (http://bronnibakes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/bronni-bakes-brownies.html) but I just mix a baked cheesecake filling through the brownie batter.

The cheesecake mixture is basically the same as the first recipe in the cheesecake frosting page which is just a 200g tub of full-fat cream cheese with icing sugar mixed through to taste (do it a tablespoon at a time as it really doesn't need too much. Don't make it too sweet as the brownie itself is rather sugary so you want to keep that cream cheesey tang. Once combined mix a large egg through the mixture with a fork. 

If you want to add some chocolate chips or chunks of chopped up belgian chocolate that works reeeeeally well too (this most certainly isn't a healthy recipe!!). I sometimes add white chocolate to the cream cheese and sugar mix (melted sometimes then folded through or in chunks, whatever you prefer) and mix through some fresh raspberries for a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake brownie. I must admit it's pretty damn special. Cherries also work well in it. 

It's really versatile and you can play around with it as you want. I'm sure some grated orange zest through the cheesecake mixture would work a treat in the brownie too. Maybe chop up some chocolate orange segments and mix them through it too to reinforce the orangeyness? That would be a pretty good Christmas brownie I reckon!!

Tips

- Don't over-mix the cream cheese - it'll go runny and won't give the thick and creamy texture of a good cheesecake when it's baked through

- Try adding the cream cheese filling to cupcakes too. Just a teaspoon full in each cupcake before putting them in the oven works a treat and gives each cake a nice cheesecakey filling. If you wanted to do chocolate cheesecake cupcakes, use the vanilla batter in the link but substitute 20g of the flour for cocoa powder. 

- When adding the cheesecake to the brownie, don't mix it through thoroughly. Swirl it through leaving good 'blobs' of it still there otherwise it'll all blend into one batter and won't give the contrast you want between gooey brownie and soft, fluffy cheesecake.

-If you wanted a simple but impressive dessert at a dinner party that everyone thinks has taken considerable effort and time, make this and serve warm with some ice cream!

It really is a super simple recipe that gives gorgeous results. Give it a go and you won't regret it. It'll soon become one of your favourite things too!

Bacon and Maple Cream Cheese Cupcakes!!

Okay, first blog post EVER. I'm SO out of my comfort zone with computers (unlike when I'm in the kitchen and covered in flour!) but I'm going to give it a go. I thought I'd start off with something that almost everyone loves... BACON! Until recently, I was a vegetarian and the thing that made me kick the 12 year habit was bacon... Thin, crispy, salty, GORGEOUS bacon. What better way to honour this newfound love than to combine it with my other all-time favourite thing to eat... cake! I did a bit of research into bacon and maple cupcakes but quickly gave up on research and just decided to wing it and experiment with my own. Perseverance isn't one of my strengths so all I wanted to do was get stuck right in.

Okay, here you have a picture of the finished product (along with another experiment for the day in the form of a strawberry cheesecake cupcake). Considering I had to make up a batch of cream cheese frosting anyway I thought I'd use up the strawberries that I had in the kitchen. 

I decided to make a vanilla base with a favourite recipe of mine (based on one from the Hummingbird Bakery) which results in gorgeously soft and fluffy cupcakes every time (honestly, that's not an exaggeration!) and load it up with some maple bacon. All I did was cook the bacon in a dry frying pan and then add a generous glug of some maple syrup (the real stuff, not pancake syrup!!) towards the end of the cooking time so it would caramelise. I'm a real fan of super crispy bacon and really, that's what you need for this recipe. Soggy bacon in a cupcake (or any other time for that matter) just won't do! It's worth noting that once you take the bacon from the pan, avoid putting it on kitchen towel as you will end up in paper-coated bacon, which to be honest, isn't all that great!

Once you've got your sticky, crispy, gorgeous-smelling bacon cooked, let it cool then chop it up into little glossy shards. Don't be tempted to munch away at it as you make your batter!!

 

I made my regular vanilla batter next, and then divided up the bacon into the cupcake pans before cooking, reserving some for the top of the cakes when they're iced. If you're planning on making these take your butter out of the fridge so it's nice and soft for when you make your icing.

 

(Ignore the crushed biscuit on the pan, it was from the strawberry cheesecake cakes going on in the adjacent holes!)

When they're cool (or while they're cooling if you're reeeeally impatient) it's time to make your gorgeous maple cream cheese frosting!

 

I start off with a simple buttercream. That buttercream in itself is pretty damn tasty but I use it as a base for my cream cheese frosting. If you wanted to make your cream cheese frosting with just cream cheese and icing sugar, be my guest! It's worth noting that you will NOT need twice the amount of sugar to cream cheese. I'd recommend doing it a spoonful at a time and adding sugar to taste.

If you're doing a buttercream-based cream cheese frosting, take your buttercream and add in a 200g packet of cream cheese.

Take your cream cheese and add it into your soft and whippy buttercream along with a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup to taste (don't overdo it as you'll be drizzling some over the top of the cakes and don't want a maple overload (if such a thing is possible)). I blast it in the electric mixer to get it nice and smooth but seriously, blast it for a few seconds, not for a long time. If you over-mix it then it'll go all runny... not the best consistency to ice a cupcake with! If you're worried that you'll overdo it, by all means mix the cream cheese in by hand and it'll reduce your potential for failure.

The cream cheese frosting should be nice and thick and a good piping consistency.

 

Now you've got your cooled cupcakes and your frosting made, it's time to ice those babies!! By all means just get a spatula and spread on that mapley cream cheese yumminess but I like to pipe it on. That proved difficult considering I didn't have a piping bag and nozzle to hand when I made these as I was at my parents' house, but I just improvised with a food bag and snipped off the corner.

 

Ice nice big swirls onto the tops of your golden cakes and top with the reserved candied bacon from earlier (if you've already eaten it despite my prior warning not to give into temptation then that's just silly.. they really make an awesome cupcake even better!). Drizzle over a bit more maple syrup (I don't think I need to give a reason to justify this step).

 

There you have it, sweet, salty, fluffy, crunchy and heavenly smelling cupcakes. Perfect for fellow bacon fans, cupcake fans or, as my friend quickly pointed out, an AWESOME hangover cure. Who wouldn't want one of these to wake up to after a heavy night out?!

 

I hope that making these cupcakes and tasting how awesome they are makes you forgive me for the excessively long first post!!