Exploding Cupbrowniecheesecakes

I always feel kind of guilty that my posts come weeks after I've made and eaten the recipes. Fortunately, I noticed that one of my favourite food blogs, ...an endless banquet, blogged about a Mexicali meal two weeks after it happened, so now I don't feel so bad :P

I made these cupbrowniecheesecakes for a Tribune party two Fridays ago. I had made cupcheesecakes for a meeting before and they turned out really well (though I thought the crust was a bit crumbly because I didn't measure the butter properly) so I thought if I made cupbrowniecheesecakes it would take it to the next level.

But then they didn't really turn out. They exploded.

I should have known. The original recipe is for a 9x13 pan of cheesecake brownies, which rise as a unit. When left to rise in smaller units (and I think I was a bit too greedy with some of them), the brownie part exploded through the cheesecake part. They were still good though... well I don't know 100% because they all got eaten before I could have one, but I've used the brownie recipe for four years now and the cheesecake topping for two.

The brownie recipe, which I adapted from this recipe on AllRecipes is super-bad for you. The first step involves melting a cup of butter.

At one point I was thinking, maybe one day I'll figure out the yield of one cup of butter in terms of mL and then just replace it with veggie oil! But then again, butter is not 100% fat so I'm not sure if it'll work out.

The next step involves adding two cups of sugar—I add one cup of brown and one cup of white.

Then I add four eggs...

...and vanilla. Next came the most important ingredient: cocoa.

This may be the only remotely healthy part of the brownies because cocoa contains a high level of flavonoids, or antioxidants, which can help promote better cardiovascular health. While most brownies tell you to chop up some bar of Baker's chocolate, this is the real stuff, though the other brownie recipes might tell you to add less sugar and butter, so it evens out. This step is where the magic happens. Sometimes at this point this is where your kitchen starts smelling like chocolate, even before the brownies go into the oven.

After adding the rest of the dry ingredients, the brownie batter is complete and you can start on the cheesecake part.

At this point I stopped taking photos because my roommate Carol came down to make dinner and I don't think she knows I own a food blog and she would find me crazy if I was taking photos every step of the way. So I made the cheesecake batter, then portioned both into muffin tins. As I said before, I got a little greedy and so the yield was only 18, and they exploded:

I was kind of disappointed and wasn't sure if I wanted to take them to the party, but Carol encouraged me to because she thought they looked "unique" and I'm pretty glad I did.

Cheesecake Brownies or Cupbrowniecheesecakes
Yields 1 9x13 pan, or 18 cupbrowniecheesecakes. Recipe can be halved to an 8x8 pan.

Brownie base:

• 250 mL (1 cup) butter
  
• 250 mL (1 cup) granulated sugar
  
• 250 mL (1 cup) brown sugar
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
  
• 170 mL (⅔ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• 250 mL (1 cup) all-purpose flour
  
• 2 mL (½ tsp) salt
  
• 2 mL (½ tsp) baking powder

Cheesecake topping:

• 1-250 g (8 oz.) pkg of cream cheese, softened
  
• 170 mL (⅔ cup) granulated sugar
  
• 10 mL (2 tsp) fresh lemon juice
  
• 1 egg
  
• 2 mL (½ tsp vanilla)
  
• 1 mL (¼ tsp) salt
  
• 30 mL (2 tbsp, or 1/8 cup) all-purpose flour

Brownie base:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and flour a 9x13" pan, or line your muffin pan with cupcake cup thingies.
   
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter in prepared pan, or portion into muffin tins. (I scooped in a little less than ¼ cup for each one, but I think less would be a good idea)

Cheesecake topping:

1. Cream together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
   
2. Beat in lemon juice, egg, vanilla and salt.
   
3. Beat in flour and spread mixture in even layer over batter. (A teaspoon over each cupbrowniecheesecake is perfect.)

If making cheesecake brownies, bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. For cupbrowniecheesecakes you can go on the lower end of that range.