Chocoholic: Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

. Yvonne Ruperti

Despite their blended interiors, these cheesecake swirl brownies wind up being just as rich, if not richer, than an all-chocolate fudge brownie. Creamy, tangy cheese layered with rich, dark chocolate? I'm not complaining: I love chocolate and I love cheesecake. And interestingly, even though cheesecake is one of the most guilt inducing desserts, swirling it into a brownie base makes it seem a tad less threatening. Or so I say to myself.

You see I was really craving cheesecake, but feeling guilty about it (here in Singapore I'm in a perpetual bathing suit season). And the problem is that unlike other desserts which I'm happy to share with others, I look forward to managing a whole cheesecake alone. So I convinced myself that this dessert would satisfy my cheesecake fix without going overboard.

I took a favorite fudgy brownie recipe of mine and changed a few of the ingredients to account for what I had on hand. The cream cheese layer is simply softened cream cheese, sugar, and an egg. A butter knife was used to swirl the batter together. The bars are done as soon as the cheesecake is soft set. I couldn't even wait till the bars cooled properly before I dug in. Just a little bite.

About the Author: Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Easy Artisan Bread. You can also watch her culinary stylings on the America's Test Kitchen television show. She presently lives in Singapore working on her new baking cookbook, and as a recipe developer for HungryGoWhere Singapore. Check out her blog: shophousecook.com . Follow Yvonne on Twitter.