Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust

I had a request for a cheesecake on his birthday from my dad.  I wasn't in the mood for something with a fruit topping, so this yummy cheesecake with a chocolate brownie crust topped with homemade chocolate ganache came into creation.  It's a modification of my rustic cheesecake, but uses a modification of my favorite brownies as the crust.  Topped with some of my favorite ganache, and it's a win-win for everyone! Enjoy!

Brownie bottom, two layers of cheesecake, and a chilled ganache topping, ready to eat!

The cheesecake immediately after drizzling on the homemade ganache - serving it immediately like this would be delicious, too! 

Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust - gluten free

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line a large 8 or 9" spring-form pan with parchment paper.

In a microwave-safe dish, melt at 50% power in 30 - 60 second increments, until melted:
3.5 oz high quality 60-70% dark chocolate
7 Tbsp butter

Add to chocolate/butter mixture:
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp white sugar

Mix in until smooth:
2 eggs

Finally, add and mix in thoroughly:
1 Tbsp brown rice flour OR Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Pour in the brownie batter and bake 6-7 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Brownie batter, which bakes just a bit.  

Prepare cheesecake batter.  Beat in a mixture until smooth:
16 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 eggs

The batter should look light and fluffy.  Carefully pour/spread over the brownie base.

Cheesecake batter, light and fluffy looking, then spread over the brownie base.

Bake cheesecake at 350 F for about 35 minutes.  While baking, prepare the sour cream topping.  There will be some light brown spots on the top of your cheesecake, but this is OK.

It really is rather unattractive at this point, but don't worry! You'll add your sour cream layer and it will look great! 

While the cheesecake is baking, beat together:
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Immediately after baking your cheesecake for the 35 minutes, pour this sour cream mixture evenly over your cheesecake.  Return to the oven and bake at 350 F for an additional 7 minutes.  At this point, your cheesecake should be a little jiggly in the center, but mostly firm.  You don't want to cook any longer.

Do NOT remove the cake from the oven at this point.  Turn off the oven and open the door to the oven and let the hot cheesecake cool 15 - 20 minutes.   Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool at room temperature.  Once it's cooled, you can place it in the refrigerator.  You want it to chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.  Yes, you can make this the day before!

Make sure you let it cool slowly, in an opened oven until removing it from the oven completely.  This will avoid any cracks in your cheesecake as it cools.  

Once your cheesecake is COMPLETELY cooled, you can remove it from the pan and remove the parchment paper.  The bottom will be nice and firm, so you can transfer it to your serving platter.

Don't like this rustic-looking edge?  No problem!  If you line your pan neatly with a thin strip of paper, rather than having folds in it, you will end up with a neatly edged cheesecake.  (I don't have patience for that sort of thing if I'm planning to drizzle chocolate over the top).

To serve, you can make the chocolate ganache to drizzle over your cooled cheesecake.  You can let this drizzle chill in the refrigerator or serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache
In a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup whipping/heavy cream

Remove from heat and mix in until smooth:
4 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate

Drizzle by spoon or place in a freezer ziploc and cut the corner off in order to pipe over cheesecake.   You can also do a lighter drizzle and serve the warm ganache piped onto the side of your plate for a fancy presentation! Enjoy!

You may drizzle the ganache however you like, but with children helping, we get a decadent amount drizzled on top. Yum!

Gluten Free Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

I'm normally not a huge cheesecake person, but this cheesecake has a delicious, light texture. I'm a fan.  It's made with plenty of lemon zest throughout, and topped with an extra sour cream layer towards the end of the baking time, giving it a little something extra.  I love the taste of lemon and raspberry, so a homemade raspberry coulis sauce is the perfect accompaniment to this cheesecake.  Every time I make a coulis sauce, I'm amazed by how easy it is to prepare.  Leftovers are perfect over waffles, crepes, or pancakes, too!  Enjoy!

A delicious piece of cheesecake topped with homemade raspberry coulis sauce.  

A chilled rustic sour cream topped cheesecake, ready for slicing and eating!  

Rustic Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake - with Raspberry Coulis Sauce

This recipe was based off a recipe from the Cook's book of Everything, quite a fun (and large) cookbook I stumbled upon years ago. 

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and then line an 8" or 9" spring-form pan with parchment paper, pressing it into the pan as best you can (the folded edges will add the rustic look to your cheesecake).

In a ziploc bag (or bowl), combine:
9 oz crushed GF cookies and/or GF graham crackers (A mixture of cookies and graham crackers works nicely. I like to use my homemade chocolate chip cookies or homemade GF vanilla wafer cookies, (If you use the homemade chocolate chip cookies, just make them without the chocolate chips, and cooked just a touch longer than normal so they're nice and crispy.  You can make them, crush, and freeze them to use later.) 
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground allspice
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground coriander
pinch nutmeg
scant 1/2 cup butter, melted

Press the mixture into the parchment-paper lined spring-form pan, making sure to press evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the pan an inch or two (as best you can).  Set to chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

In a large bowl or mixer, beat together the following until smooth:
16 oz cream cheese (two 8-oz containers)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Add and beat in until smooth:
4 eggs

Pour cream cheese mixture over the chilled crust.  Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes.  There may be a couple spots that brown slightly on the top, and that's just fine.

The cheesecake, ready to be topped with the sour cream mixture.  Don't mind any little browned spots as they'll be covered by the sour cream! (plus, it just adds to the rustic look)

While the cake is baking, mix together the following:
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Remove the cake from the oven, and pour the sour cream mixture on top.  Return to the oven and bake an additional 6-8 minutes. 

The cheesecake topped with the sour cream mixture and ready for the last bit of baking.

I like to remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool, but you can leave the oven door ajar to let it cool more slowly and help avoid cracking.  I just don't mind, since I'm pouring a delicious raspberry coulis sauce on top!   Let the cake cool at room temperature, then place in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.  You can make this a day in advance, if needed.

The cheesecake fresh out of the oven.  The parchment paper gives the edges a rustic look once everything has cooled and you remove the outer ring and the paper.   

When the cake is cooling, you can prepare a raspberry coulis sauce to top the cheesecake.  This can also be made in advance and left covered in the refrigerator for a day or two.   Once fully cooled, you can remove the ring and carefully remove the outer edges of the parchment paper.  I found the cake can pretty easily be slid off the parchment paper and onto a serving platter, if desired.

The amounts listed here are general guidelines.  You can use more or less berries and more or less sugar, to taste.  I find you can't really go wrong provided you let things come to a boil nicely and press the coulis through a sieve to remove the seeds before serving. 

Raspberry Coulis Sauce

Bring to a boil:
8-12 oz fresh or frozen raspberries 
2-6 Tbsp powdered sugar, to taste
1 tsp lemon zest, optional
1-2 tsp lemon juice, optional

Let the coulis boil gently for a few minutes.  You can blend it with a stick blender to help break up the berries.  Return to heat and boil an additional 3-4 minutes.

You can blend some more and then serve as-is, but I recommend pressing the sauce through a sieve, using the back of a spoon to help remove the seeds.  I rub the spoon back and forth along the sieve to help move around the seeds and let the coulis sauce through.

The sauce can be used warm or chilled before serving over-top the chilled cheesecake.  Enjoy!!!

This is making me hungry.  It was so creamy and delicious with a nice hint of lemon throughout.  

Pumpkin Cheesecake Chocolate Swirl Brownies!!!

The perfect grown-up Halloween pumpkin treat!  These are even fabulous if you forget... err... leave out the flour, too!  They're even more rich and dense.  It's a wonderful blend of pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate brownie.  And, it requires that perfectly small amount of pumpkin puree, so when you've only got a little left from your cooked or canned pumpkin, you'll have something tasty to make with it!  Enjoy!

Delicious Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Chocolate Swirl Brownies - gorgeous AND tasty! 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Chocolate Swirl Brownies
Makes 8" x 8" pan

Line an 8x8 pan (or similar sized pan) with parchment paper.

Mix until smooth: (in a mixer works best)
1 egg
1/2 cup (4 oz/112.5 g) cream cheese
1/2 cup 100% pumpkin puree (use canned or make your own!)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt:
4 oz (~ 3/4 cup) dark chocolate (over 70% is best)
1/2 cup butter

Mix in:
3/4 cup brown sugar

Add in:
2 eggs

Fold in:  (flour can be left out for more dense/rich brownies!)
1/2 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix  OR 1/2 cup flour/flour mix of your choice

Spread 2/3 of the chocolate brownie batter in prepared pan.  Spread the pumpkin batter on top.  Top with dollops of brownie batter.  Swirl with a knife.

Swirled brownie, ready to bake!

Bake at 325F 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of your pan), until the brownies are just set in the centre. I just shake the pan a little bit to see if it still jiggles a lot. Once it doesn't really jiggle anymore, they're done!  These should have just a tiny bit of browning starting to happen around the edges when they're finished.

Let cool completely in pan OR let cool in pan a bit, then you can remove the brownies (using the parchment paper to pick it all up) and put it on a cooling rack if you want to help them cool faster.  Cut into squares of whatever size you desire and enjoy!

Brownies will be a little puffy when done, but will sink down a little once cooled. 

Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

These are some of my absolute favorite brownies.  I can't make them often because I just want to eat them all.  You get a wonderfully deep, dark chocolate brownie that perfectly pairs with the lighter cheesecake swirls.  I prefer using vanilla bean paste in this recipe vs vanilla extract so I get a stronger vanilla flavor in each bite.  My friend Julie LOVED them and said I absolutely must get this recipe on my blog asap. I may have taken a bit longer than she was hoping, but here is the recipe, in all it's delicious easiness!  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Mmm... all those lovely swirls of cheesecake mixed with brownie.   I made this in a round spring-form pan, lined with parchment paper - but I tend to just pop it into square or rectangular pans, as listed in the recipe.

Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl Brownies
Based on a recipe from Comfort Foods by Bridget Jones (this happens to be my favorite cookbook of all time - I've just been converting things bit by bit to gluten-free from this cookbook)
Makes 12-16 brownies

Preheat the oven to 325F.
Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, OR use two smaller pans that give you approximately an 8x8 sized space.  The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can really make it in any size somewhere around an 8x8 pan and it will work out! This is nice if you want some to give away or take a smaller batch with you somewhere, while still having some left at home! 

In a large bowl or mixer, beat together until smooth:
1 egg
1 cup (8 oz/225 g) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt together at 50% power (so your chocolate doesn't burn - you want to melt the chocolate/butter, but not have them get too hot):
4 oz dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
1/2 cup butter

Mix into to chocolate/butter:
3/4 cup dark brown sugar

Stir in, until thoroughly combined:
2 eggs

Add and mix in gently:
1/2 cup Kristin's gluten-free flour mix OR 1/2 cup cornstarch OR 1/2 cup arrowroot starch (this recipe is quite flexible since there's so little flour, but you want something that will help thicken/hold things together nicely)

Spread 2/3 of the brownie mixture in your pan(s).  Spoon the cheesecake batter on top, trying to spread it around fairly evenly.  Scoop the remaining brownie mixture on top of the cheesecake batter.  Use a knife to swirl around, so you have wonderful bits of brownie and cheesecake all mixed up!

Bake at 325F 25-35 minutes (depending on the size of your pan), until the brownies are just set in the centre. I just shake the pan a little bit to see if it still jiggles alot. Once it doesn't really jiggle anymore, they're done!  These should have just a tiny bit of browning starting to happen around the edges when they're finished.

Let cool completely in pan OR let cool in pan a bit, then you can remove the brownies (using the parchment paper to pick it all up) and put it on a cooling rack if you want to help them cool faster.  Cut into squares of whatever size you desire and enjoy!