I’m in love with the cocoa! These cheesecake brownies are a triple threat. A magical combination of cheesecake, dulce de leche and brownie base should give you enough to seek your teeth into. It was a lengthy process, but beyond worth it!
What to expect:
In short: Ooey, gooey layers of deliciousness. I seriously can’t stop eating them. The dark chocolate chip-speckled brownie layer is rich and abundantly sweet, only to be offset by the tangy top layer of orange zest-dotted cheesecake. Bridging these two dreamboat layers is a mixture of roasted hazelnuts and dulce de leche; the hazelnuts bring some crunch to the chilled, smooth delicacy. You’ll go NUTS for these brownies, I promise!
What I changed:
Basically nothing! I substituted the instant coffee for instant espresso powder. Potato, potato. (Please pronounce each one differently for optimal results!) 🙂
The recipe looked complicated, required a lot of ingredients and even more patience so I really tried to follow it as carefully as possible. I did have to order dulce de leche and hazelnuts online, since they were not easy to find at my local grocery stores. So some prep and planning is definitely required.
Tip: If you purchase whole hazelnuts, toss them into a food processor for 20 seconds and they should be broken into the perfect size, equivalent to chopped. Then, you don’t have to deal with each hazelnut rolling around as you try not to chop off your finger in the process.
Tip 2: As tempting as it is to eat the cheesecake brownies right away, I recommend waiting to eat them until the next day. This way, each brownie layer is firm and considerably less messy than eating it right away—take it from me, my shirt and I learned the hard way.
You won’t be able to resist a cheesy grin once you try one of these cheesecake brownies! Enjoy!
Nadiya’s Cheesecake Brownies with Nutty Caramel Recipe: (US measurement estimates are mine)
INGREDIENTS
For the brownie base
- 250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 250g/9oz dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- 4 free-range eggs
- 280g/10oz/1 ¼ cup soft dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp instant coffee mixed with 2 tsp hot water and cooled
- 120g/4½oz/½ cup plain flour, sifted, plus 1 tsp for the chocolate chips
- 30g/1oz/2 tbsp. cocoa powder, sifted
- ½ tsp salt
- 150g/5½oz/2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
For the nutty centre
- 200g/7oz/just under 1 cup chopped mixed nuts or hazelnuts
- 450g jar dulce de leche
- ½ tsp salt
For the cheesecake top
- 300g/10½oz full-fat soft cream cheese
- 100g/3½oz/7 tbsp. caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 orange, zest only
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- cocoa powder, for dusting
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4/355°F. Line the base and sides of a 20x30x5cm/8inx12inx2in brownie tin with some baking paper so that it comes 1cm/½in above the top of the tin and lightly grease.
- To make the brownie base, put the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan and melt over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is liquid. Set aside to cool.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and cooled coffee in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is light, thick and fluffy. This should take 5 minutes with an electric hand whisk.
- Pour in the cooled melted chocolate and whisk until the mixture no longer has any streaks in it. Then add the sifted flour, cocoa and salt and mix until you have a glossy batter.
- Mix the remaining teaspoon of flour with the chocolate chips in a bowl before mixing them into the batter until they’re well dispersed – this trick will stop them sinking to the bottom when you bake the brownies. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level off the top. Bake for 25 minutes.
- To make the nutty centre, toast the hazelnuts in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat, stirring until they are a deep golden-brown.
- Put the dulce de leche in a bowl along with the toasted nuts and the salt, mix and set aside.
- As soon as the brownies are baked, take them out of the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin. As soon as they have cooled, spread the sticky nut mixture over the top and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Adjust the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3½/340°F.
- To make the cheesecake top, mix the cream cheese, sugar, egg, almond extract, orange zest and flour together really well. Spread an even layer over the nut mixture and bake for 30 minutes. As soon as the cheesecake is set in the centre, remove from the oven, allow to cool and leave in the fridge overnight. The wait will be worth it!
- Dust with the cocoa, take out of the tin and cut into squares. Eat, eat, eat!
