The other day I was feeling totally uninspired to bake from cookbooks. After having scoured through many of them, I felt like having a dessert that would be a riot of textures, rich and flavourful, yet not too sweet. And then in a few moments, it struck me – I’d make a dessert with multiple layers: crunchy biscuit, gooey brownie, velvety cheesecake, silky white chocolate ganache, and a layer of tangy raspberry topping. Just thinking about it made me so happy!
(it’s been pouring here and I just couldn’t seem to get a good shot of the cake!)
If you look at all the layers in there, it looks a little intimidating, but it’s not. The brownie and the cheesecake layers (or both in one!) have made their appearance on the blog in the past (and hopefully been baked in your home!), and that’s half the battle won. It’s just the regulation of time in the oven that’s important. You only want to bake the brownie for ten minutes (or fewer – just keep an eye on it) when you first put it in the oven, because you’re going to be popping it right back in with the cheesecake layer. And after that, it’s a breeze. Or actually not. The toughest part it waiting for the cheesecake to cool, so you can cut up a slice – a slice of awesomeness.
Layer 1: Biscuit base
- Mix all the ingredients together and lay it at the bottom of a 9 inch/20cm springform pan. Push it with your fingers to make it really compact.
Variations: You can add 1 tbsp of toasted, coarsely ground hazelnuts, if you like.
Layer 2: Brownie
Use ½ the recipe of the Baked Brownie as per the recipe
- Pour the batter into the springform tin with biscuits.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170C/340F for 10-12 minutes, until you see that a sturdy crust has formed.
- Remove from the oven, and let it cool. It’s important for it to cool before you pour the next layer because when it has cooled, it will be more resilient to the batter being poured and it won’t crack. This will give you well defined layers, instead of the cheesecake bleeding into the brownie. But, if it does happen, just say that you’ve made a marbled cheesecake swirled brownies.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/320F.
Pointers:
- Make sure to use minimum 60% cacao chocolate. Remember, we’re striving for awesomeness.
- You can grind the sugar a little to help melt into the batter easily.
Layer 3: Cheesecake
Use 1/3rd the recipe for the cheesecake.
- While the brownie cools, heat up some water and place it in a roasting pan to create a water bath for the cheesecake.
- The water bath will help the cheesecake attain a moist texture as well as prevent the top of it from cracking.
- Once the brownie has cooled a little, about 15-17 minutes, pour the cheesecake batter on top of it and let it bake in a preheated oven at 160C/320F.
- Let this bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the cake is slightly golden and has firmed up. Just the centre should be a little wobbly.
- Remove from the oven, and let it cool.
Layer 4: White chocolate ganache
200g / 8oz white chocolate
100g / 4oz heavy cream (or Amul if you’re on this side of the world)
1 tsp vanilla extract
- Place the white chocolate and vanilla extract in a metal bowl.
- In a saucepan, heat the cream, until it comes to a boil, making sure it doesn’t burn.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate and swirl it a but to coat the chocolate evenly.
- Start whisking the cream into the chocolate, until it has all come together.
- Refrigerate for an hour, covered with clingfilm.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, spread the white chocolate ganache on it. Rerigerate until set. Do not skip this and jump to the topping – if the white chocolate doesn’t set, it will make spreading the raspberry topping that much more difficult.
Layer 5: Raspberry topping
I used about 150g (5oz.) readymade raspberry topping, because that’s the best I can get. But if you have access to fresh raspberries, then a thick coulis would be blissful!
Slice up, and share. That’s what makes it more fun – watching the expressions of people eat it, and then gush about how frickin’ awesome it is. I’m on my last slice of the cake as I write the post, and I’m already craving for some more. I wish I could just run to the kitchen and bake this again right this moment, but I can’t. It’s too rich to be made every other day and more than that, it’stoo special to make it without an occasion