Easter is a special time of year where you are encouraged to eat copious amounts of chocolate. In England Easter is a our second biggest family food filled holiday after Christmas. The stakes are always high and only the best will do. I had planned to make a full on lamb roast and then have this for dessert. However instead of going out to buy my lamb I got drunk instead, which is why I only have dessert to show you. But it’s better than nothing right?
This is probably the richest and most decadent dessert I have ever made. In fact I only could eat 2 pieces in one go which is practically unheard of for me. Especially since I was hungover, which is when I usually gorge like there is no tomorrow. Despite the many layers involved this is actually a pretty easy dessert to make and it will be sure to wow your friends, or yourself. Because sometimes we all deserve a treat. For the brownie do as much work as you like. I used my box mix but feel free to bring out your best brownie recipe.
Ingredients
Brownie
65g of flour
45g of cocoa powder
200g of white sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
100g of chocolate chips
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 a cup of oil
Cheesecake filling
400g of cream cheese
400ml of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
200g of icing sugar
5 tablespoons of peanut butter
3 tablespoons of nutella
10 mini Reese’s peanut butter cups to decorate
Directions
1. Weigh out all your dry ingredients if you haven’t got a pre-made mix you made earlier (a la Blue Peter)
2. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper or skip this if you have decent bake ware.
3. Measure the oil and add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk. Then add to the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture is combined. No need to over mix here. You can also add in any extras at this point, for ideas see my note at the bottom. Then pour into your tin and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on how you like it) or until a tooth pick comes out clean(ish). Allow to cool for an hour. If the brownie is still warm it will melt the cheesecake layer.
4. While your brownie is cooling make the cheesecake layers. Beat the cream cheese and vanilla until soft. In a separate bowl whisk the cream until it forms stiff peaks, then gradually mix it into the cream cheese so you don’t get lumps. Then mix in the icing sugar until smooth.
5. Take one third of the cream cheese mixture and mix in the Nutella. Mix the peanut butter into the other two thirds. Then chop the Reese’s peanut butter cups into chunks. To assemble put the peanut layer on top of your brownie, smooth down then top with the Nutella layer, smooth down then scatter over the peanut butter cup pieces. Then leave to refrigerate for at least 3 hours. The longer you leave it the more integrity it will have. Although I wouldn’t blame you for eating it after an hour as it requires a lot of restraint to wait out the time :)Happy Easter everyone!
