Hello, how are you prepared for Valentine? I’m not being serious – I’m not someone who participates in this totally commercial lovefest held every year on February 14th, but I love a good dessert and so I can bake something delicious for you and the person/person you love. Why the heck not?
If you are with me, I have a perfect recipe for you. This tray of raspberry-filled vegan cheesecake brownies has it all. It has the look, with an intensely chocolatey fudgy base, fragrant and creamy cheesecake topping and tangy pops of raspberry surprise.
A while back, I created a neighborhood cake group so I could share my test bakes with my neighbors and reduce food waste, which I hate. These brownies have proven to be one of the group’s most popular desserts in a while so they must be good. And the best part is that they are not difficult to make either.
The base is simple brownies – it’s based on my previous recipes for these eggless brownies – so it’s not difficult to make and the cheesecake bit is even easier. You just put all its ingredients in a blender and hey presto, the top layer is ready in seconds. Then all you have to do is combine the two in a baking tin, top with raspberries, bake and then wait (this is by far the hardest part!!) until they cool completely and then chill them in the fridge. The last couple of hours can be skipped, but if you like extreme volatility, they’re better for it.
More about ingredients
Cashews: Raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 20 minutes make the cheesecake base. You can also make one with vegan cream cheese, but I wanted an ingredient that’s accessible no matter what country you live in, and vegan cream cheese brands are bound to differ from country to country.
Casting Sugar: Caster sugar, which is ultra-fine white sugar, is used to sweeten the cheesecake mixture and add texture to the brownie batter.
Lemon, juice and zest: A generous amount of lemon juice and some lemon juice are used to give the cheesecake mixture its pleasant tanginess, which nicely offsets the sweetness of the brownie base. I also added some orange zest to the mix (oranges and chocolate are a great combo) but you can skip it if it doesn’t appeal or you don’t have oranges.
Vegan butter: I added a small amount of vegan butter to the cheesecake layer to keep it moist and creamy, and I also used it in the brownies. You can use coconut oil in either case, vegan butter is my choice if you prefer. I used Violife as it was available in my nearest shop, but Naturli (a Danish brand) is the best on the British market in my opinion.
Frozen Raspberries: Raspberries not only add a nice visual contrast to these two tone brownies, but they provide a nice tangy pop of flavor here and there – which all my taste testers love. Fresh raspberries will not stand up to prolonged heat as well so I recommend using frozen for that reason.
Dark Chocolate: A good tray of brownies depends on good chocolate. I used 70% cacao dark chocolate and that’s what I recommend for an intense chocolate flavor.
Muscovoda Sugar: Muscovado sugar is high in moisture and therefore helps to crank up the brownie’s interior. If you haven’t got any, don’t worry. I did some experimenting with powdered sugar and the brownies came out pretty good too.
All Purpose Flour: These brownies use plain flour and this is important – we don’t want to use self-rising flour as it will make these brownies cakey.
Cornstarch: A bit of cornstarch helps to break up the dullness, but if you can’t find it, use another tablespoon of plain flour instead.
Cocoa Powder: Dutch-processed cocoa powder gives the brownie layer more chocolate richness than you would get if you used melted chocolate alone.
Salt: A little salt is great in desserts and especially chocolate desserts because it makes the chocolate taste better. I only used a small amount because my vegan butter already has salt in it, but feel free to double the amount if yours doesn’t.
Baking Soda: A very small amount of baking soda helps cook these brownies, but not enough to make them cakey.
Aquafaba: Legume cooking water or canning liquid is used here to replace eggs and does so with flying colors. I used aquafaba from home-cooked chickpeas, but you can also use the liquid from a can of chickpeas. My favorite brand in the UK is Biona.
Start by lining your baking tin (20cm / 8″ square) with two long strips of baking paper – you want them long enough to stick out of the tin. Next, whip your cheesecake layer by mixing all the ingredients together until silky smooth.
Set up your chocolate, vegan butter and brown sugar in a bowl over gently simmering water. Let them melt into each other while you whip your aquafaba with an electric whisk. Whisk your aquafaba until it turns into a soft and fluffy white foam with small bubbles (about 2 minutes with a hand-held whisk).
When you see the aquafaba in the previous photo, start adding the sugar. Add it slowly after each addition. This should take about 3 minutes and when it’s done it should look like the picture on the left. If you let it sit for a few minutes, it will look like an egg white in the so-called ribbon stage – a tail of it will hang around for a few seconds before dissolving. At this point, begin adding the melted chocolate mixture while gently and slowly folding in the aquafaba. Don’t add all at once, keep adding while folding.
Once you’ve added all the chocolate and your mixture looks more or less uniform (a few white streaks are fine), slowly add the dry ingredients. Fold them in slowly and gently, scraping the sides of the bowl every now and then. Continue folding until just combined and no white streaks of dough. Reserve half a cup of the brownie batter and spread the rest in the prepared baking tin. Even the mixture with a spatula making sure it reaches the corners and edges of the tin.
Pour cheesecake mixture over top, dot remaining brownie batter on top and swirl decoratively using toothpick. Add a few frozen raspberries to the batter and you’re ready to bake.
- 130 g / 1 cup cashews, soaked*
- 25 g / 2 tbsp vegan butter* (no need to melt)
- 65 g / 1/3 caster sugar
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup plant milk
- 60 ml / ¼ cup lemon juice + ½ lemon zest
- Zest of ½ orange (optional)
- 10 ml / 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- frozen raspberries, for garnish (optional)
Brownie layer
- 150 g / 5¼ oz vegan 70% cocoa dark chocolate
- 100 g / ½ cup vegan butter
- 50 g / ½ cup soft brown (muscovado) sugar (or finer sugar)
- 125 g / 1 cup all-purpose flour*
- 8 g / 1 tsp cornstarch
- 50 g / scant ½ cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (GF certified if needed)
- 120 ml / ½ cup aquafaba (chickpea brine), from chickpeas or home-cooked can
- 200 g / 1 cup caster sugar
method
‘Cheesecake’ layer
- Place all cheesecake ingredients (except raspberries) in a small blender. Blend until silky smooth and set aside.
Brownie layer
- Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F. Line a square 20cm/8in baking tin with two long strips of baking paper covering all sides.
- Melt the chocolate, brown sugar and vegan butter in a bowl suspended over a pot of just simmering water. Let them melt slowly, turning off the heat when most of the chocolate has melted. Stir gently to combine at the end.
- In another bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda – if your cocoa powder is lumpy, press it into the flour. Mix well with a spoon.
- Using an electric whisk, whip the aquafaba in a (spotlessly clean) large bowl until it becomes a fluffy white foam filled with little air-bubbles – see pictures above (about 2 minutes using a handheld electric whisk).
- Start adding sugar slowly for a few seconds after each addition (this should take about 3 minutes).
- Using a spatula, gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the aquafaba and sugar mixture.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture while gently folding in with a spatula. Continue folding until there are pockets of dough left but no more.
assembly
- Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) of the brownie batter and spread the rest into the prepared baking tin. Make sure it reaches around the tin and into the corners.
- Pour the ‘cheesecake’ mixture over the top, spreading it to the corners, then dot the remaining brownie mixture in several places.
- Use a chopstick to swirl the decorative brownie-cheesecake and garnish with frozen raspberries. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes.
- Cover the top with a piece of kitchen foil and bake for a further 13-15 minutes (43-45 minutes total). The cheesecake will look cooked but a toothpick inserted into the center will still come out as a mouthful – that’s what we want. Remove the tin from the oven, allow to cool completely and then refrigerate for 2-3 hours for best results.
- Cut with a knife dipped in hot water (and wipe dry). Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Comment
* Vegan butter: You can use coconut oil (I recommend unflavored coconut oil for a neutral flavor), but vegan butter blocks are even better. I used Biolife butter.
*White flour: To make these brownies gluten-free, use a good GF flour mix and ½ tsp xanthan gum or 2 tsp psyllium husk powder to help with the binding.
This recipe is based on several old recipes of mine, including: this one , this one , and that one .