Tag Archives: Red velvet

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

No, that's not mold, it's blue candle wax.

No, that’s not mold, it’s blue candle wax.

I have this HUGE problem, in that The BF doesn’t want me to bake anything but chocolate chip cookies and occasionally BOXED chocolate brownies (never brownies from scratch). No molasses cookies, no cupcakes, no blondies, no muffins, nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I make these things anyway, but they inevitably get stale or the entire batch ends up as that extra 5 pounds on my thighs. It’s starting to become a reeeeeeal problem for me.

So for his birthday I said, “Do you want me to make a cake?” He said, “Surprise me!” I said, “Do you want brownies?” He said, “Surprise me!” So I did. I make red velvet cheesecake brownies. Who wouldn’t like red velvet cheesecake brownies?! Probably just runway models and I don’t know any of those.

So what did he say when he took a bite? “They’re a little rich for me.”

I guess I’ll stick to chocolate chip and boxed brownies. And eat the entire batch of brownies by myself.

On the menu:
Red velvet cheesecake brownies
Makes 16
Note: I still do not own an 8 x 8 pan which this recipe originally calls for, so I made it in a round 8″ cake pan and then cut the brownies into thin wedges. These truly are rich, so you don’t want to cut them too big.

2 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp red food coloring
3/4 tsp white vinegar
3/4 cup flour
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 (or 8″ round) pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Beat eggs together in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, add warm, just-melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar and stir until combined. Add eggs and stir until combined. Fold in flour until incorporated. Pour batter into baking pan, leaving 4 Tbsp of batter for later.

To make the cheesecake: in a large bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until light and fluffy and completely blended. Drop the cheesecake batter on top of the brownie batter in large dollops. Add your reserved brownie batter in dollops on top of the cheesecake. Use a sharp knife to cut lines across the batter until you have a lovely swirl pattern.

Bake for 28 – 30 minutes for a square pan, or 30 – 32 minutes in a round pan. Test with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting.

Note: this should be kept refrigerated because of the cheesecake on top. Set it out for about an hour before serving so the brownies aren’t cold.

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Red Velvet Christmas Cupcakes

Red velvet cupcakes
Red velvet cupcakes are a mystery to me… there is nothing really special about them aside from their color. They’re basically barely-chocolate flavored cake with cream cheese frosting. But when I was trying to come up with a special little dessert for mine and The BF’s honorary Christmas celebration (traveling on Christmas doesn’t really lend itself to hauling around loads of gifts, ya know?), I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than little red colored cakes. And besides that, The BF loves red velvet. So I took a crack at it, threw caution to the wind and added the ENTIRE little bottle of red food coloring, and kind of loved it. Here’s to red velvet. I saw its face, now I’m a believer.

On the menu:
Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp liquid red food coloring
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder together.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until it’s soft. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the egg and beat until combined, and then add the vanilla and cream the mixture together.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk with the red food coloring. Beat together on low speed the flour mixture, the butter mixture, and the red food coloring mixture, alternating the flour and food coloring in three separate pours, ending with the flour (i.e.: Add 1/3 of the flour, half the red, 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 the red, then the rest of the flour).

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and the baking soda. Quickly fold the liquid into your batter and then divide into 12 muffin tin tups until each cup is half full (don’t worry, this batter rises a lot).

Bake for 18 – 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

Cream cheese frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until combined. Pipe onto cupcakes (or spread with a knife) and sprinkle with green sugar to finish.

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