Something Tasty.

I guess it's been pretty quiet around here lately. But I've been doing things, ok? Not anything important, just things. And if we're being honest (and really, why wouldn't we be?), I miss posting when I'm not here. But I usually get all my kitchen inspiration on my days off, and since Christmas, I haven't had any days off. I've been doing things all the time (gosh, that makes me sound so popular!). Even though I've still been looking at recipes - and obviously I've still been making dinner for us everyday so that we don't get too thin - I just haven't had that real surge of inspiration to do any serious cooking.

So that's it. That's my story.

Except it isn't the end of the story, because today I had my first proper day off. And I decided to treat myself by making Something Tasty. Today's Something Tasty comes courtesy of the Smitten Kitchen, and is, by all accounts, a fitting title.

So here you have it: Cheesecake Brownies. They are sweet, but not too sweet; they are fancy, but not too fancy; and also, they're easy. So treat yourself. Think of it as a present from me to you. Don't worry, you can thank me later... (p.s. Forgive my bad photo, I ate all the brownies before I could take another photo. That's how good they are)

Cheesecake Brownie Recipe.
From Smitten Kitchen

When the recipe calls for the cream cheese to be "well softened" please try to do this, or your brownies will look sludgy (and delicious) like mine did. They'll still taste good, but you won't have a nice clean cheesecake layer, you'll just have chunks of cheesecakey bits throughout.

4 ounces unsalted butter, chopped
3 ounces dark chocolate (I used chips)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup plain flour

8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175C.
Line and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler until just melted.
Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until combined.
Whisk in flour until just combined and pour into pan.

Whisk together cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth.
Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a butter knife.

Bake about 35 mins.

I think these brownies were better cold than they were warm, but you better try both, just to check.

[This song has nothing to do with brownies, but I saw Amanda Palmer play this song the other day at a festival, and she's amazing, and I do live in Tasmania, so it's totally relevant.]