The 50 Percent Chef

Layered Brownies

Ingredients:

For the Brownies

3/4 cup of unsalted butter

185g best chocolate

2/3 cup of plain flour

1/3 cup of cocoa powder

100g of milk chocolate

3 eggs

1 and 1/4 of caster sugar

For the White Layer

180 g Cream cheese

1 Egg

50 g Castor Sugar

30 g plain Flour

Vanilla Essence

Cut the butter into small cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break dark chocolate and milk chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.

Melt the butter and chocolate, then leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.

While you wait for the chocolate to cool, turn the oven on to 180C and line the baking tin with grease proof baking paper.

Now begin the white layer, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, sifted flour and a drop of vanilla essence together.

Once the chocolate mix has cooled, tip the flour and cocoa powder into a sieve held over the medium bowl, and tap and shake the sieve so they run through together and you get rid of any lumps.

Break the 3 eggs into a bowl and tip in the sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake. This can take 3-8 minutes, depending on how powerful your mixer is, so don't lose heart. You'll know it's ready when the mixture becomes really pale and about double its original volume. Another check is to turn off the mixer, lift out the beaters and wiggle them from side to side. If the mixture that runs off the beaters leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl for a second or two, you're there.

Pour the eggy mouse into the cooled chocolate mixture, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin, then follow with the cream cheese mix.

Put in the pre heated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes pull the tin out and gently shake, if the brownie wobbles in the middle, it's not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny, papery crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven and leave in the tin until completely cool, the cut into squares.