Red velvet cheesecake brownies…..one of the best things to have been created!
Every single time I eat one, I’m reminded of how good they are but I feel like they’re not talked about a lot. They seem a little underrated.
The flavour and texture of the red velvet brownie with the cheesecake layer goes so well together. If you have never tired these, you need to make them right now.
Video Tutorial
What makes a red velvet brownie….a red velvet brownie?
The main difference between a regular brownie and a red velvet brownie is a lot less cocoa powder, some vanilla and food colouring. That’s it.
The ingredients are pretty much the same as a regular brownie recipe, but these small changes do make a difference.
Some recipe do also add vinegar, since a red velvet cake has vinegar in. But I felt like for these, it’s not really needed.
The vinegar is typically added to red velvet cake so that it can react with the baking soda, to help the cake rise more. I don’t add any raising agents to my brownies because I like them to be fudgy, so I decided not to add the vinegar too!
Ingredients for the red velvet brownie layer
Here are the ingredients we’re going to be using to make the red velvet brownie layer:
- Unsalted butter – I always like to use unsalted butter just so that I can control the amount of salt, but salted butter does work too. Just make sure not to add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt that is in the recipe.
- Granulated sugar – caster sugar works too.
- Vanilla – you can’t make anything red velvet flavoured without adding some vanilla.
- Eggs
- Plain flour – also known as all-purpose flour.
- Cocoa powder – only a small amount of this is added, just to give the brownies a light chocolate flavour.
- Salt – I love adding salt to desserts, it helps offset the sweetness and it also enhances the flavour of the other ingredients.
- Red food colouring – these will taste exactly the same without the food colouring, but then you don’t really get the red velvet vibes you know so I personally always feel like I need to add it. Paste or gel food colouring is best to use!
The cheesecake layer
From what I’ve seen, the cheesecake layer in a red velvet cheese brownie is usually just made with cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Sometimes an egg is added too.
This does taste great, but I always felt like it would taste better if the cheesecake layer tasted a little more cheesecake-ey….if that makes sense.
I wanted the taste and texture to be more like an actual baked cheesecake.
Because of this, there are a few extra ingredients….3 to be specific, corn flour/cornstarch, double cream and white chocolate. These extra ingredients are definitely worth it though!
Baking this
As you have probably figured out by now, this red velvet cheesecake brownie has 2 layers. The brownie is at the bottom and the cheesecake is on top.
Because of the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie, it takes longer for the brownie to bake. I baked mine for around 1 hour.
Depending on your oven it might need a little longer, or a little less time.
Just keep an eye on it. It is done when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. You don’t want it to be completely clean, a few moist crumbs is good. Just make sure there is no wet batter.
Also the top might seem a little jiggly, this is just the cheesecake layer. As long as your toothpick doesn’t have any wet batter on it, you are good!
Leaving the red velvet cheesecake brownies to chill
Before taking your baked brownie out of the tin and cutting into it, it is IMPORTANT to leave it to chill first.
The brownie and cheesecake layer both need some time to set, they will be too soft at first.
I recommend leave these to chill in your fridge for an hour before cutting into them. I know an hour might seem like a long time to wait but I promise the wait is worth it!
Are you looking for more brownie recipes? Here are some I think you should take a look at:
Red Velvet
Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients
- For the red velvet brownies:
160g unsalted butter, melted
250g granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
120g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Plus some red food colouring
- For the cheesecake layer:
300g cream cheese
80g granulated sugar
20g corn flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100ml double cream, warm
60g white chocolate, melted
Directions
- Start by pre-heating your oven to 180c/350f, also grease and line an 8 inch square cake tin with some baking paper.
- Making the brownie batter:
- In a large bowl, add the melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Aggressively whisk these together for 1 minute.
- Add in the eggs and aggressively whisk for another minute. Then mix in the food colouring too.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add this into the other bowl and whisk just until all the flour has been incorporated.
- Get a few spoonfuls of this batter and set this aside. Add the rest of the batter into your cake tin. Leave this aside too.
- Making the cheesecake batter:
- Add the cream cheese, sugar, corn flour and vanilla into a large bowl and mix these together until smooth.
- Pour half of the cream into this, whisk until combined, then mix in the rest of the cream. Now mix in the melted chocolate.
- Add this batter into the tin, on top of the brownie batter. Then with the batter you left aside, dollop this on top and use a knife to swirl it around.
- Baking:
- You want to bake this in your 180c/350f pre-heated oven for around 1 hour - 1 hr 10 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, from the red velvet brownie layer.
- Side note, if you feel like at any point during the baking time the cheesecake layer is getting too brown, just add some tin foil on top, to stop it from browning.
- Once baked, let this cool down at room temperature for a bit, then place this into your fridge for about an hour so that it can set. Then cut into it and enjoy!
