black and white cheesecake

Warning: except if you have company coming, do not make this cake unless you are prepared for the consequences of eating it all yourself! It’s that good!

The back story – I got a link to Mel’s Kitchen Café blog from a friend’s podcast and was browsing through her desserts and came across a recipe for black and white cheesecake. It’s a cross between brownies and cheesecake and she blatantly admits ripping the recipe off Martha Stewart. I was amazed to see, after checking Martha’s website, that Mel did not change a thing and the directions were word for word from Martha’s recipe. Struck me as rather odd but what do I know – there are no copyrights on recipes, but I would have thought she (Mel) would have put a little spin on it.

Anyway, I do like both brownies and cheesecake and thought I’d give it a try – had company coming so it’s always nice to have something different. My first attempt was following their directions for a 9 X 13 pan, but I cooked it in a 7 X 11 pan using a little less sugar than the original recipe called for – I always find most recipes far too sweet. The result was pretty yummy, still sweet enough but the next try, I revamped it for an 8X8 pan – you need a lot of people to eat a 7 X 11! Also, I thought it would be better with more of the cheesecake part. Basically, I made half of the brownie part, but the same amount of the cheesecake and I think it is now perfect!

ready to bake

There is a bit of fiddling around – you make the brownie part and it has to be chilled for a half hour or so, then you bake the base for 15 minutes and wait for it to cool (another 20 minutes), then you add the cheesecake filling and top it with the remaining brownie bits and then bake the whole thing for another 25 minutes. I hate having to wait around for things like that, so I found that you can make the brownie part and refrigerate it even overnight before proceeding so it saves a bit of the rigamarole and you can plan your time better than having to hang out in the kitchen waiting around.

baked

Brownie Mixture

1 C plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/8 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp softened butter
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

In medium bowl, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until all incorporated, scraping down the bowl a few times. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, gradually, low speed until all mixed in. Dough is quite stiff and thick – make sure the butter is very soft.

Prepare 8 X 8 pan with foil sling, sprayed lightly. Reserve 3/4 C of brownie mix. Press remaining in the prepared pan, cover both with plastic wrap and refrigerate both for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hrs.
Preheat oven to 325F and bake base for 15 minutes – don’t overbake because it gets cooked again with the cheesecake mixture and you don’t want it too hard.
Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack to room temp, about 20 minutes.
While waiting, make the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened
scant 1/2 C powdered icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Beat to smooth.
Spread over cooled base; break up reserved dough by small spoonful and scatter on top. Bake until filling is set, 25 minutes.  You want it to be still slightly jiggly in centre.
Cool to room temp and then refrigerate 4 to 6 hrs before cutting into squares – lift out of pan and cut it into 25 squares or as desired!
If you'd like the pdf printable version of just the recipe, email me maoger@shaw.ca