Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Heart Brownies

Okay, so everyone's posting about Valentine's Day and I'm seeing more and more heart shaped sugar cookies and cakes. And I'm also seeing loads of strawberry milkshakes and strawberry cookies and strawberry everything. Of course, the most prominent of them all would be red velvet. Red velvet cookies, red velvet milkshakes, red velvet brownies, red velvet cupcakes and red velvet cakes.

Here's a confession, since everyone is confessing their love. I love looking at red velvet desserts. That deep red just has that little tinge of attractiveness. But I've never had red velvet anything before. Somehow that seductive red appealed way more to my eyes than my stomach.

So, part of my resolution for this Valentine's Day is to try my hand at a red velvet dessert. The other part being to be a good partner and have fun =D Sadly, I had training today... Oh well.

You are going to love the texture of these brownies. They're are thick and fudgy, creamy and soft, everything I look for in a brownie. Combined with the unique taste of red velvet, it's just perfect. So what is that red velvet taste?

When I looked at the different recipes for red velvet brownies, I was a little confused. Is it a chocolate cake?  But the amount of chocolate or cocoa powder never really seems to be enough to make it a full fledged chocolate cake. Then what's with the vinegar (or in some recipes, buttermilk)?

My brother's birthday is on valentine's day!

Sally, from Sally's Baking Addiction, described them perfectly. They aren't quite chocolate and they aren't quite vanilla. 'Red velvet cake is sort of like a dense buttery vanilla cake with a mild chocolate flavour.'

When I bit into these brownies, they fit the description perfectly. It wasn't death by chocolate chocolatey, but it there was a delightful hint of chocolate flavour. And the vanilla stood out as well. None of the flavours are overwhelming; instead, they're perfectly balanced by the slight tang from the vinegar.

In accordance with Valentine's Day, I cut these out with heart shaped cookie cutter. You can just cut these out as squares, but don't you think they're so pretty as hearts? Don't worry about the scraps though, I have the perfect solution, coming up soon.

Well, enough talking. These would be perfect for Valentine's Day, whether your spending it with someone or just enjoy the time alone (oh well, training...).

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
(makes about 16 hearts)
Ingredients:
Brownie batter
115g butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp of salt
1 tbsp red food colouring
2 tsp white vinegar

2 eggs

100g plain flour

Cheesecake batter
250g cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk

Method:
Brownie batter
1. Whisk sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, colouring and vinegar one by one into melted butter in the order stated.

2. Whisk in eggs.

3. Fold in the flour till well combined.

Cheesecake batter
4. Whisk together all the ingredients for the cheesecake batter till smooth.

5. Pour 3/4 of the brownie batter into a 20cm by 20cm baking tin. Dollop the cheesecake batter over. Then dollop the rest of the brownie batter over.

6. Swirl with a spatula.

7. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer poked in the centre comes out clean.

8. Leave to cool in the baking tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

9. Cut out with a heart shaped cookie cutter and SAVE THE SCRAPS :D