Raspberry & White Chocolate Celebrations Brownies!!

I love brownies and I love cheesecake! It’s not the first time I've ever made cheesecake brownies, but it’s the first time I've written a post for them. These came to me at the perfect time. The May 2013 issue of Sainsbury’s magazine is celebrating it’s 20^th birthday! Coincidence that it is also my birthday is in May? Probably. It didn't stop me from seeing it as a sign that I needed to make the Raspberry & White Chocolate celebration brownies on the cover!!

Even though I have been in the UK for less then half of the 20 years that the Sainsbury’s magazine has been operating, it was from their June 2010 issue that I baked my first ever whoopie pie. It’s already been 2 years, but whoopie pies never over took cupcakes… that’s a whole other topic for another time… Anyway if you happen to be in Sainsbury’s pick yourself up a copy it’s only a pound! Plus there is a coupon for money off Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste!

These brownies were gorgeous. You only need a small square to satisfy a chocolate or dessert craving! I don’t really do small squares so where it says it will serve or make 16 I  got 9 out of mine. Six of them were transported to my friends for dinner. I mean for dessert, we didn't eat the brownies for dinner. Although now that I’m eating cookies for breakfast, why shouldn't I eat brownies for dinner? 

Raspberry & White Chocolate Celebration Brownies

adapted from Sainsbury’s magazine May 2013

100g dark chocolate, broken up

100g soft butter

200g light muscovado sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

100g plain flour

pinch of salt

100g white chocolate, roughly chopped I used Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference White Chocolate with raspberry for extra raspberry!

125-150g fresh raspberries

cheesecake:

1 large egg

200g cream cheese

50g granulated sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Preheat oven 180C/160fan/gas4. Grease an 18cm or 20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.
2. Place the broken pieces of dark chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and blast for 30 seconds, stir, 20 seconds, stir and then 10 seconds spurts until completely melted stirring after each 10 second interval. Or melt in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whichever is your preferred way of melting chocolate? Set aside to cool while you get on with the rest…
3. Beat the butter and sugar until combined and smooth, slowly add the beaten eggs a little at a time. Keep mixing and add the flour, melted dark chocolate, and a pinch of salt and mix until completely combined.
4. Fold in the chopped white chocolate and 125g of raspberries. Set aside. (I think I left it a bit too long as it seemed to seize up a bit and it was a tough to spread out in the tin)
5. Beat all the cheesecake ingredients together. Mine was a little runny because I used a handheld beater, but I think it might have been thicker if it had been beaten by hand, but in the end product it didn’t matter.
6. Spread half of the brownie mixer into you’re prepared tin, then in blobs or just pour (mine was runny as I said) half of the cheesecake mixture on top, using a skewer to swirl together. Then repeat carefully spread the remaining brownie mixture on top and then swirl in the rest of the cheesecake mixture.
7. Bake the brownies for 50 minutes, I used a 20cm square tin instead of the 18cm tin recommended, I didn’t change the baking time, but that would be up to you.
8. Leave in the tin until completely cool and cutting into squares. Decorate or serve with the remaining raspberries, if you haven’t snacked on them while baking or if you don’t have little people who stole them while you were baking…

notes: Sainsbury’s Magazine (I promise Sainsbury’s has not sponsored this post I just happen to live close to one. Although Sainsbury’s if you’re reading this you get a lot of business from me so if you ever want to give me a discount or something email me!) A Tale of Two Whoopies, a link to my cousin’s blog post where I got my inspiration to start my own blog; Brownie Quest