Hot Mocha Brownies with Coffee Cheesecake Swirl and Kahlua
Hot Mocha Brownies with Coffee Cheesecake Swirl and Kahlua is a perfect celebration dessert and an ideal option for Christmas or Thanksgiving festivities.
Serves up to 16
Ingredients
Brownie Ingredients -
- 200g unsalted butter, in cubes
- 200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
- 150g soft brown sugar
- 50g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 100g plain/all-purpose flour, sieved
- 25g unsweetened cocoa, sieved
- 4 – 6 teaspoons instant coffee powder, sieved
- 200g chopped milk chocolate (optional)
Coffee Cheesecake Ingredients -
- 2 – 3 teaspoons instant coffee powder (sieve if using granules.)
- 250g full-fat cream cheese
- 50g sour cream
- 75g icing sugar
- 1 egg
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
To serve -
- vanilla ice cream
- Kahlua – optional
Instructions
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Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
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Preheat oven to fan oven 160°C /180°C/350°F/Gas 4
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First make the brownie mix: chop the butter into squares and place in a microwave safe bowl with the chopped chocolate. Melt in a microwave or a bain marie or and mix until smooth. (See Recipe Notes for details.)
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Meanwhile put the sugars, eggs and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until thick and creamy. This will take around 3 minutes.
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Pour the chocolate and butter into the eggs and sugar, whilst whisking, and mix thoroughly with the electric whisk until smooth and glossy.
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Put a sieve over the bowl and add the flour, cocoa and coffee. Sift directly over the cake batter.
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Fold until nearly mixed in. Taste and add more coffee, if desired.
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Add the chopped milk chocolate (if using) and fold in. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage.
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Secondly, make the coffee cheesecake: put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together with a spoon – this helps avoid an icing sugar cloud in the kitchen.
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Beat with a hand held or electric whisk until smooth.Taste and add more coffee if necessary.
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Layer the mixes: transfer half the brownie mix to the prepared baking pan and level the surface, making sure the mixture goes right up to the edges, and into the corners, if necessary.
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Tip the cheesecake mix over the brownie mix and gently spread evenly over the surface.
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Use a spoon to dollop over the remaining brownie mix and then, use a knife or a skewer to swirl it into the cheesecake mix.
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Cook: bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 30 – 35 minutes, depending on how squidgy you like the centre to be. (I cook mine for 35 minutes in London and 37 minutes in Switzerland.) This gives me a slightly crispy top but a gorgeous gooey centre. The cake will be slightly risen and cracked around the edges but the centre will feel quite soft. Remember it will continue to cook after you have taken it out of the oven.
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To serve: serve hot directly from the pan or baking dish. I like to serve mine with the ice cream on top and drizzled with Kahlua. If serving Kahlua, make a few holes in the top of the cake with a skewer or knife and drizzle over the Kahlua. If you are serving this to adults and children, you could invite the adults to drizzle the Kahlua themselves, over their dessert, once it has been served.
Recipe Notes
Equipment
- Electric whisk and mixing bowl
- Kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- 23cm round baking pan or 20cm/8inch square baking tin lined with baking parchment
Brownie Layer –
- Large microwave safe jug or heatproof bowl
- Mixing bowl and electric whisk
- Sieve
Cheesecake Layer –
- mixing bowl and electric whisk
Coffee
I use the maximum suggested, which we love. This has quite a strong coffee flavour; I suggest starting with the lower amount, taste and add more, according to your own personal taste.
Be very careful melting the chocolate. Chocolate can be very difficult to work with. You can overheat it very easily and the mixture will go grainy. When this happens, there is no way to resolve it I’m afraid!
Microwave: I give the chocolate and butter a minute in the microwave, take it out and stir it well, then let it sit for a few minutes to see if it continues melting sufficiently to melt all the chocolate. If not, I then continue with the microwave but in 10 – 15 second bursts.
Bain Marie: if you do not have a microwave, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Heat until the chocolate and butter are very nearly melted then take it off the heat and take the bowl off the saucepan. Be very careful not to burn yourself as the bowl will be hot and steam will escape from the saucepan. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes for the residual heat to melt the remainder of the mixture. Again, be careful not to over-heat.