Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Red Velvet is one of those classic flavours that many of us are familiar with now. Red Velvet cupcakes are a staple in our kitchens (stay tuned!) and we're always trying to find new ways to make that more exciting. Today we decided to experiment with our good ol' Red Velvet cupcake recipe and turn it into something lighter, hence Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies were born!

Ingredients:
Yield: 16 brownies

Red Velvet Brownie:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
1 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
4.5 TBSP cocoa powder
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Red food colouring

Cream Cheese Layer:
1 250g package of cream cheese
1 egg
4.5 TBSP white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Grease a 9x9 baking pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray. Cut some parchment paper out, and lay the parchment paper on the greased pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350F
3. Cream together butter and sugar. Once creamy and smooth, add the eggs and beat well. Add the cocoa powder and make sure it is well mixed. Add the salt, followed by the food colouring and vinegar. Make sure to mix between adding each ingredient. Add the flour last and just mix until everything is combined and well incorporated
4. Reserve a little bit of the batter (1/4 cup will do) and put it in a bowl aside
5. Pour the rest of the batter into the prepared baking pan
6. Cream the cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla extract until well mixed. (Note: make sure the cream cheese is completely softened in order to avoid lumps in your cheesecake layer)
7. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet brownie mixture and smooth out to the edges
8. Using a spoon, dollop the remaining red velvet batter you put aside on top of the cream cheese.
9. Using a butter knife or toothpick, swirl the batter into the cream cheese miture.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350F (or until inserted toothpick comes out clean)
11. Make sure brownies are completely cool, cut and serve!

Note: It's best to make use of red food colouring PASTE (if you have it) as it will give you a richer and brighter red colour. We, however, didn't have any and made use of the regular liquid food colouring and they still turned out quite red, we just had to add a bit more until they were the colour we wanted. The amount you use is up to you and how bright or dark you want the red to be. Alternatively, you could also just leave out the food colouring all together if desired.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

These brownies are a delicious and "lighter" twist on the classic red velvet cake/cupcake. They're fudgey, moist and very reminiscent of a red velvet cupcake (minus all the overly sweet calorie filled icing!) They are quick and easy to prepare, and will disappear before your eyes! Give this recipe a try, for when you're next craving the classic Red Velvet!