New Recipe #20: Cream cheese marbled brownies

Two weeks after I visit my sister in DC, she and her boyfriend are coming up to our house to hang out. They’ve never met Ted, so we’ll hang out at the house, play Guitar Hero, and go out for food, and I am so excited. It’s fun to see them in DC, but it’s even more fun to show them around our little Pennsylvanian hamlet, not to mention share the charms of our puppy.

Whenever I see my sister, there is one staple: baked goods. She claims she can’t bake, but I think it’s a front to coerce me into making something for her, as though I needed second bidding. We were chatting about the visit up to “the country,” as she calls it, and I reminded her to let me know what she wanted me to make ahead of time so that I could have it ready, rattling off items that have elicited jealous pangs from her. Pretzels? Big cookies? Raspberry bars?

“How about cream cheese brownies?” she asked.

Uh, way to suggest something I’ve never made, Zeister.

But, hey! This week’s Whip It Up theme is cheese, so what better time is there to experiment? Nic pointed out correctly that cream cheese is not actually cheese, in the production sense, but for the purposes of this challenge, we have let that detail slide. With that, I found a suitable recipe for the brownies at Smitten Kitchen and got to work.

Method
From the start, I fidgeted with the recipe because I did not need a 9×13″ pan of experiment brownies, and I figured that I could halve the ingredients and end up with a nice 8×8″ batch for testing purposes. Most of the reduction was a piece of cake, but eyeballing one half of a beaten egg for the cream cheese filling was no fun. If nothing else, for the purpose of reducing the cake flour and sugar measurements for the brownie batter, I learned that there are four tablespoons in a quarter cup. Who knew? I work better in the metric system, where the conversions make sense, for the love of all that is good.

The process was very easy to follow, which was not surprising since Deb adapted her recipe from what I’m sure was an already sound method from Cook’s Illustrated. I was rather inefficient with my use of dishes because I did not catch the detail that I would add everything to my melted chocolate, rather than the other way around, so do yourself a favor and melt your chocolate and butter in the biggest bowl you can. Also, I highly recommend the use of the foil sling for brownies to make removal and cutting so significantly easier. However, beware of using “the tip of a knife” to swirl the cream cheese and chocolate layers together; I was sure at certain points that I had punctured my foil lining. Next time, I would use the handle of spoon or a chopstick for a narrow, blunt swirling utensil. What, I wasn’t supposed to use a steak knife?

Taste
I cut up the brownies to have as dessert for a get-together this week, but JG and I shared one to make sure they were, uh, edible. I chose a brownie with a higher proportion of cream cheese swirl so we could properly test that portion of it, and we both took thoughtful bites. The brownie was moist, very chocolate-y, and pleasantly sweet, but we couldn’t exactly taste the cream cheese. In fact, if I had been blindfolded I may not have even picked up on the swirled layer.

Repeat appearance
JG had a quick solution to the wimpy cream cheese taste: double the filling. So, next time (because, oh, there will be a next time), I will halve the brownie batter as I did this time, but make a full portion of the cream cheese batter. That’s more of a relief than anything, since I won’t have to guess at what half of an egg looks like. I think I might try out one more test batch to make sure the proportion is right; after all, someone has to make sure that my sister doesn’t eat an out-of-whack brownie. I’m taking one for the team!

Cream Cheese Marbled Brownies
Originally seen at Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Be sure to test for doneness before removing the brownies from the oven. If underbaked (the toothpick has batter clinging to it) the texture of the brownies will be dense and gummy. If overbaked (the toothpick comes out completely clean), the brownies will be dry and cakey.

For swirl
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

For brownies
1 cup (4 ounces) pecans or walnuts, chopped medium (optional)
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces
2 1/4 cups (15 3/4 ounces) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhand pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Beat cream cheese and two tablespoons butter in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until well blended. Beat in egg. Mix in one tablespoon flour. Set mixture aside.

3. If using nuts, spread nuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.

5. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.) When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

6. Transfer half of batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Pour cream cheese mixture over, then second half of brownie batter. Swirl the batters together decoratively with the tip of a knife. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 45 minutes, watching carefully for overcooking. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil overhang. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. (Store leftovers in airtight container at room temperature, for up to 3 days, or, ahem, in the freezer until your resistance gets the better of you.)