Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

My second real attempt at baking went much better than the first.

Fancy

Quin has always been the baker in the family. I, on the other hand, butcher every cake or confection I touch. There was the high school Spanish project of the sunken orange pound cake (Note to self: don't shake a cake to determine if it's done). Oops. More recently there was the caramel icing turned powder. I felt a little better about myself when I heard this was a difficult recipe. 

How?

We're really amping up our kitchen supplies these days so I thought Valentine's Day would be the perfect excuse to test out the new hand mixer. Personally I don't have a problem with V-Day, coupled up or single. I appreciate any holiday that let's you celebrate especially one with sweet treats and champagne. For instance, my breakfast this morning was chocolate covered strawberries. Money.

These brownies are sure to impress and easy enough for a baking newb like me to handle. Bring these to work, give to your roomies, eat them all yourself. Whatever. No judgment here.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Ingredients:

For the red velvet brownies:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon red food coloring

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake filling:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan with butter.

In a large bowl, comine the melted 8 tablespoons butter with the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, food coloring and salt, stirring to combine. Then stir in the white vinegar.Whisk together the eggs in a small bowl, and then stir them into the brownie batter. Fold in the flour, just until combined, then pour the batter into the prepared pan, reserving 1/4 cup of the batter for the topping.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a handheld electric mixer), blend together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk until well combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture in an even layer over the brownie batter then top the cream cheese with dollops of the remaining brownie batter. Using a sharp knife or toothpick, swirl the cream cheese together with the dollops of brownie batter.

Bake the brownies for 35 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely before slicing and serving.

[Recipe adapted slightly from Just a Taste.]

You know you love me.