What more could you want?

You know the saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words', well perhaps in this case it's 'a picture is worth a thousand calories'!  Well maybe not quite that many, but quite a few nonetheless.  The recipe below caught my attention through not only it's picture, also by the fact it combines several of my favourite things - cheesecake, chocolate and brownies.  It sat in my inbox for a couple of days whilst I debated what size the 'bite' should be.  The original recipe (found here) calls for the use of a mini-muffin tin and goes on to detail the amount of mixture to put in each, starting with a tablespoon of brownie mix.  It could be a lost in translation issue from using a recipe from the US, but those two details didn't match for me. I changed my mind several times and in the end used normal size muffin tins and pretty much doubled the cooking time.  The end result - an amazing chewy brownie with the extra special mouthful of cheesecake.  What more could you want?

Brownie Cheesecake Bites
Makes approx 24

Brownie mix
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons espresso coffee (or 1 tbsp instant if you must, mixed with 2 - 3 teaspoons boiled water)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups plain flour

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
2. Combine eggs, cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso and vanilla extract in a large bowl. It will be a very thick paste.
3. Add sugar and melted butter, and whisk gently to combine.
4. Stir in flour and mix till thoroughly combined, using a wooden spoon or spatula.

Cheesecake mix
250g cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 large egg yolk

1. Mix all ingredients until well combined.
2. Spoon into a piping bag.  If you don't have a piping bag, just snip the corner off a snaplock or other plastic bag instead.

Assembly

1. Line muffin tin with patty pans (or lightly grease with butter).
2. Spoon a generous tablespoon of brownie mix into each patty pan.
3. Pipe a generous teaspoon of cheesecake mixture on top.
4. Add another teaspoonful of brownie mix on the top.
5. Swirl the two together if you like.  Smooth the top. (They won't rise very much, so it's ok to fill them quite full.)
6. Bake at 180C, for 25 - 30 minutes.  Check halfway through and rotate in the oven if necessary.  
7. Test with a skewer or toothpick when they start to look firm enough.  The skewer should come out mostly clean and maybe with a few crumbs on it (as long as it's not liquid!).  Remember it's a brownie so you want it to be fudgy and not completely dry.
8. Allow to cool on wire racks.  
9. Make yourself a coffee and try not to eat them all at once!

Variations

1. Blitz some mixed berries and add to cheesecake mix.
2. Stir a few chocolate chips through the brownie mix.
3. For an adult version, swap half the espresso for Kahlua or Tia Maria