Dirty chai cheesecake brownies
“Dirty chai is a chai with a shot of espresso, and it’s what kept me going through grad school. The combination of chai spices, milky black tea, and bitter coffee is stellar. You can make this semi-homemade if you’re short on time by using boxed brownie mix. I promise I won’t judge!” — Hetal Vasavada
MAKES 1 x 23 x 33cm PAN
Softened butter, for the pan
Coffee Cheesecake
225g full-fat cream cheese
¼ cup caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1¼ tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
Brownies
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
10 tbsp (150g) unsalted butter
½ cup finely chopped dark chocolate (about 72% cacao)
3 large eggs
1¼ cups caster sugar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tsp Chai Masala (see below)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Gold luster dust
SUPPLEMENTARY RECIPE
Chai Masala (makes ½ cup)
3 tbsp ground cardamom
2 tbsp ground ginger
4½ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground cloves
¾ tsp ground anise seeds
¾ tsp ground fennel
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease a 23 × 33 cm pan and line with parchment paper.
For the coffee cheesecake
In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and caster sugar until smooth. Whisk in the egg, vanilla, instant coffee, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
For the Brownies
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda and set aside.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the dark chocolate until melted. Set aside to cool.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, combine the eggs, caster sugar, brown sugar, chai masala, salt, and vanilla. Whisk on high speed for 6 minutes until thick and glossy. Slowly pour in the chocolate/butter mixture and mix until well combined. Sift in the flour mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the semisweet chocolate chips until just combined.
Spoon half the batter into the baking pan and use an offset spatula to spread it into an even layer. Add dollops of each batter on top and use a knife to swirl the two batters. Tap the pan on the counter four or five times to get rid of any air bubbles and to level out the batter.
Bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the brownies for 1 hour and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
To decorate, dip a fluffy brush, like a blush brush, into gold luster dust and tap the brush with your hand over the cooled brownies.
Make it eggless
For the cheesecake batter, use 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or whole milk whisked with ½ teaspoon of cornstarch. Substitute ½ cup (100g) aquafaba and add an additional ½ teaspoon of baking soda for the brownie batter.
Supplementary recipe - Chai Masala
Every family has its own preferred ratio of spices in their chai masala. I like my chai to be a bit heavier on the cardamom and ginger side! For this chai masala, I freshly grind all the spices before blending them together. I use this chai masala quite a lot for baking, but you can also use it to make chai (recipe follows).
In a bowl, whisk everything until well combined. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
This is an edited extract from Desi Bakesby Hetal Vasavada, Hardie Grant Books, RRP $59.99. 📷 Hetal Vasavada
Read Our Desi Bakes review here
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