Carrot Cake

I am not a big fan of carrot cake but there are worshipers here who absolutely love carrot cake. One of them happens to be S, who loves only this cake in the whole world. Even the sexiest of chocolate cake doesn't make him go week-on-the-knees. I make the carrot cake every year for his birthday with little variations, but since the past few years, I've been making it with whole-meal flour. I make them with fresh pineapple & frost it with toasted coconut cream cheese icing or a simple carrot cake with hazelnuts/walnuts/pecans (like here) & lemon cream cheese icing. This year I adapted Donna Hays recipe and the cake was fabulously moist and perfectly balanced. This one is for keepers!!

Carrot Cake
 Ingredients
220g brown sugar
185ml vegetable oil 
3 eggs 
225g whole-meal or AP flour 
1½ teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
½ teaspoon mixed spice 
½ teaspoon ground ginger 
About 5-6 med sized carrots grated 
60g chopped pecan /hazelnut or walnut 
60g sultanas 
Cream Cheese Icing 
250g cream cheese/mascarpone, softened 
3-4 tbsp icing sugar, sifted 
zest & Juice of ½ a lemon or 1-2tbsp lemon curd 
Method: 

Preheat oven to 180°C . Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2–3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, mixed spice and ginger over the sugar mixture. Add the carrot, nuts and sultanas and mix until just combined. Pour into 2 greased 8 inch-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin. 
 For the cream cheese icing: Beat the cream cheese in a food processor until smooth. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice/lemon curd and process until smooth. Spread frosting on the cooled cake as desired. I simply used it to sandwich the layer and just on top.

The Chablis Challenge Menu

I was recently sent 2 bottles of chabilis and the challenge was to pair it with the kind of food I would serve typically with the wine. I am not a big wine-cheese-food pair-er but do generally serve light creamy food with whites and tomato based food like pasta with reds. 

A little about the wine:
Product details: Domaine Bois d’Yer Chabilis 2007
Style: Dry
Grape variety: Chardonnay
Country of origin: France
The wines from this region of France, are a touch more austere mainly as the soils here are composed of light, sandy topsoil with the Kimmeridgian (limestone-rich) subsoil. The cool climate produces wines with more acidity with a beautiful fresh minerality which makes them the best wine with seafood. The wine has a pale yellow-green tinge, plenty of lovely green apple fruit on the palate, with notes of smokiness & zesty lime but still crisp. 
Product Details: Chabilis J. Moreau & Fils 2009
Style: Dry 
Grape variety: Chardonnay 
 Country of origin: France
 These grapes grow on Portlandien limestone plateaus which is essentially a cool, cloudy climate. Hence the wine is golden in color, tangy with flavors of green apple and honeydew. Very fresh, lite bodied and round mouth with a tangy and lightly spicy finish.
 I paired the Chabilis J. Moreau & Fils 2009 with cheese & the Domaine Bois d’Yer Chabilis 2007 with risotto.
 Cheese Platter with Cheese Ball, Grapes and Wine (Chabilis J. Moreau & Fils 2009)
 The cheese ball forms a perfect hors d'oeuvre along with crunchy vegetables,bread & cheese crackers. It is packed with flavors from mustard & herbs and has the crunch from chopped nuts.

 
For the Cheese Ball

Ingredients  1 tub of cream cheese/drained greek yoghurt
 mix of cheese or a sharp vintage cheddar
 (I have used a mix of Goats cheese, Pié d’Angloys, Camembert)
 50-80g butter
 1tsp of dijon mustard or horesradish
 touch of honey if using horseradish or any spicy mustard
 a little grating of garlic
 chopped fresh herbs like basil or chives
 grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
 toasted walnuts
 Method:
 Bring all the ingredients to room temperature and whip together in a mixer until light & creamy. Wrap in a cling and place into a deep bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours before un-moulding. Serve with sour dough/rye bread along with cheese crackers and some fresh grapes or figs.

Chabilis-Butternut Squash Risotto
 Yes, I used chabilis instead of the usual wine and absolutely loved the result. The general rule is to use the wine that you'd drink  to cook . Instead of standing & stirring the risotto, I baked it (tip from Donna Hay) as I enjoyed my wine with the cheese board.
 For the Risotto
 Ingredients
 1tbsp butter
 300g carnaroli or arborio (i used carnaroli)
 1 onion and a clove of garlic, chopped
 500g chopped butternut squash
 one glass of chabilis or any white wine
 700ml of stock
 couple of sage leaves
 zafferano a pinch
 freshly grated parmesan
 20g butter
 touch of cream
 salt & pepper to taste
 Method:
 Preheat the oven to 200C. Heat a heavy bottomed pan saute the onions & garlic in the butter. Add the rice, zafferano & sage leaves and coat well till transparent. Now add the wine and stir till it has evaporated. Now transfer the contents to a oven safe pot and pour the hot stock. Season well, give it a stir and bake for about 30min. At this point the risotto will look watery but put it back on heat and add the butter, parmesan & the cream and simmer for 5 minutes. It should be ready tender & creamy but the grains still firm in the center. Serve with more grated parmesan, fried sage leaves & wine.

We finished the meal with a very light but very decadent Deconstructed Eton Mess with berries. Meringue topped with dollops of thick and light cream and fresh berries.
 For the Deconstructed Eton Mess
Ingredients
 2-4 meringue
 handful of fresh berries
 creme fraiche/sour cream/cream/greek yoghurt
 vanilla extract
 honey
 some chopped pistachios or grated chocolate
 Method:
 Whip the creme fraiche/sour cream/cream/greek yoghurt lightly, with vanilla. I used a mix of creme fraiche and diary free cream. Place the meringue onto a plate, spoon the cream mixture and serve with fresh berries, nuts/grated chocolate and a drizzle of honey, just enough to sweeten the palate. 

Disclosure: I am not a wine expert or sommelier and all my views  on the wine-food pairing, are my idea of how it works best for me. I was sent 2 bottles of the wine mentioned here as a part of the challenge. Many thanks for sending the wine.

Kesar/Saffron Scented Rasmalai

Celebrations!!I love all kinds of it, be it festive or birthdays or anniversaries. I love making everything special, although S is not very keen on partying or making a show. Its his Birthday tomorrow and I am so hyper about all the things I have planned. When I asked what he would prefer as a sweet treat he sheepishly said "RasMalai". He has a sweet tooth and has a thing for good home-made Indian desserts. I am also making good old Carrot Cake that I bake every year. Carrot Cake happens to be his only favorite and every year I try to make it different and he likes it more than the yester-year.
Rasmalai is a very popular milk-based Indian dessert served in weddings & get-togethers. This sweet has two components: one a very rich milk cream scented with cardamom & saffron and gnocchi like flattened balls made out of milk cheese similar to ricotta. I reckon you could use ricotta hung in a cheese cloth for 3 hrs instead of making paneer from scratch. I have used ricotta instead of paneer here before and it worked well. You could use store bought Rasgullas and just make the milk cream at home for a quick recipe. Hopefully I will be able to post the carrot cake pics+recipe, that is if get a chance to click!!!

Kesar/Saffron Scented Rasmalai

Ingredients

For the Malai/milk-cream
3 cups whole milk 
1 can evaporated milk
1tsp saffron
2-3 crushed cardamom pods
1/2 cup sugar or as per taste
a pinch of powdered cardamom
handful of finely chopped pistachios

Method:
Bring both the milk to a boil until reduced to half, along with cardamom & saffron. Keep stirring occasionally and add the sugar. Fish out the pods and add some powdered cardamom & pistachios. Leave to cool & refrigerate until needed.
For the Rasgullas
4-5 cups whole milk
1-2 lemons, Juiced 
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups water

Method:
Boil the milk in a wide pan and add the lemon juice. Once it sepates, collect the cheese curd to a sieve or cotton cloth and drain well. I left it for 2 hours. Now pulse the drained cheese in a processor until smooth. Meanwhile boil the water in a pressure cooker or a wide mouthed pan and dissolve the sugar. Shape the processed cheese into flattened balls and drop into the boiling sugar water slowly and let it simmer for 5-10 min or until double in size.

L addle out the rasgullas and let it cool. Squeeze excess liquid off them and place onto a serving dish and pour over the malai/milk cream. Serve chilled, decorated with silver leaves and more pistachios.

Happy Valentine's Day with Red Velvet Cakes/Beet-Rose Choc Cakes

Instagram photo

I have a confession...I am a hopeless romantic! But somehow , the whole idea of reds and heart shaped things drive me mad. I mean why does it have to be strawberries dipped in chocolate, heart shaped chocolate, bright red velvety roses, champagne, diamonds to profess love.

Now romance has a new meaning for me. Its in simple things like a fresh peck on my cheek while I was half asleep this morning. Ironed clothes for me ready to wear or the loaded dishwasher. Gone are the days when I used to sulk if I didn't get a V day card/gift in return. I do still follow the same tradition of making a nice meal for us as I recollect the oh-so-romantic-moments of our life. I still do give 'S' duly-signed-with-love-bold-red-valentines-day-card. What do you do for Valentine's Day??

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

There is no better way to express your love than these moist and almost fudgy Red-Velvet /Beet-Rose chocolate cake my way. I call it so as the cake gets its dark pinkish red from the beetroot, naturally.

For the cake follow the recipe here ,  I baked them as cupcakes (makes about 12) (bake them for about 20min). 
For the Nutella-Dark Choc Ganache, simply warm 1/3 cup of heavy cream and stir in a good tablespoon worth of nutella and 120g dark chocolate. Stir everything till smooth and velvety. This cake is so fab and moist on its own but a real treat with the ganache.

Instagram Photo

Creamy cauliflower soup – DHSPC #5

 Not-So-Humble-Cauliflower

When I think of Cauliflower, I can hear in my head my mum saying “Oh no..no English vegetable today”. I don’t know what to call us but I guess orthodox vegetarian seems just right,( but then again here, in UK I am not considered a vegetarian as I eat milk products). Makes me think should I call us convenient vegetarians??Anyways, back home, vegetables like carrot, cabbage, cauliflower etc were called “English vegetables” probably because they are grown in hilly areas where English settlers lived in pre-Independent India. Apart from egg free, meet free diet English vegetables was a part of indulgent meals only allowed on certain days. I never got to know why but I was happy at least they were allowed.My granny never ever used any of these. She didn’t even use onions or garlic. I guess since my parents were raised in post-independent India, they ate these special vegetables but only on occasions. The not-so-humbl- cauliflower & dishes like cauliflower curry/bhaji, cauliflower paruppusili, cauliflower manchurian ..hold a very special place in my heart. So when the spud guy calls it a drab- white- cruciform vegetable, as I order my spud with cauli & cheese, I wonder how much, where we are raised makes a difference on what we eat!!
I wanted to join the Donna Hay Styling and Photography Challenge for a while now and the minute I saw the soup I knew I had to make it. My suggestion is make a double batch to keep you warm through the bone chilling nights. 
The original photo is by  Ben Dearnley and styling is done by Justine Poole. The recipe comes from DHM #51. I too struggled in finding the right balance of light as there was too much light on the day I shot this. In the original the light is from the right,  while I had diifculty in creating a dark atmosphere on bright sunny day. I tried covering the window and used dark absorbers. Moreover I had no props in blue so had to improvise with the black ones I had. I couldn't fold the black material to form crease as it was bulky. I crumbled some parmesan to replicate the marks in the original. I am glad at least I tried :-). Thanks simone for finding such challenging images and simple recipes for the DH challenge. It keeps me going.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

From Donna Hay Magazine
Ingredients
§ 25g butter
§ 1 brown onion (chopped)
§ 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
§ 1 bay leaf
§ 1,5 head cauliflower (or 1,5 kg, chopped)
§ 500g potatoes (starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped)
§ 750ml veg stock
§ 500ml milk
§ 125 ml single cream
§ sea salt
§ cracked white pepper
§ 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme Parmesan cauliflower crumbs 

§ 100g cauliflower (chopped)
§ 2 tablespoons olive oil
§ 20g parmesan (finely grated)
Method:
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 5-8 minutes or until onion has softened. Add the cauliflower, potato, stock and milk, increase heat to medium and cook for 25-30 minutes or until cauliflower and potato is tender. Remove from the heat and, using a hand-held blender, blend until smooth. Stir through the cream, salt and pepper.
While the soup is cooking, make the parmesan cauliflower crumbs. Place the cauliflower, oil and parmesan in a bowl and toss to combine. Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the cauliflower, oil and parmesan in a bowl and toss to combine. Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the cauliflower, stirring for 2 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Top soup with cauliflower crumbs to serve.

Starting 2012 with sweet treats:Banana-Apple-Loaf & Salted Caramel Sauce

Imperfections….Everyone and everything have them. I am not big on New Year resolutions. It’s just not meant for me…But somehow since the New Year, I have a new perception to imperfections. Like these early harvest apples with specks like freckles on skin or the reduced price tulips I bought yesterday from the market. Suddenly I seem to notice the beauty beyond imperfections. I guess its natural to have such moments. I do have my moments of gloominess with winter’s grey, wet & dreadfully dark days, but moaning aside I do love the comfort season. I love chilly early mornings of silvery and misty skies with a piping mug of boozy coffee, ovaltine or hot chocolate. I love the duvet nights with earthy comfort foods like soup or Mac&Cheese. I seem to find inspiration everywhere, I find them in trees bending to the will of the wind, by the auburn and copper-tinged leaves that fall from the trees & cover the damp ground; despite the never-ending bleak dark days. Even moods are like seasons. There are times of cheeriness like summer, when everything is colorful and then there are dreary times like winter when all you want to do is potter around the house, doing absolutely nothing. I am thankful that I have people around me who love me despite all this. I am thankful that S loves me even on those non-showered-no-makeup-lying-on-the-bed days as much as the cheerful-well-groomed days. So I decided to give these over-ripened bananas & freckled apples a face-lift of vanilla, lemon zest and love and baked a Banana-Apple Cake. Its one of those things you can walk-straight-from-work-and-bake-in-your-boots.

*Having said that I just noticed some imperfect lines around my eyes & invested ££ in a jar of eye-cream. Gowd! how we hate imperfections on skin :-). 

 Loaf 1

 Loaf 2

Banana-Apple-Loaf

This loaf is very hearty, and very forgiving. I’ve made quite a few variations myself. The first loaf has banana & apple with cake flour, almond meal, ricotta and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds. The second loaf has banana just 2 instead of 3, 2 sliced apples, 1 grated carrot, wholemeal instead of flour & almond meal with 3 tbsp of yoghurt. If you prefer plain banana loaf just omit the apples & carrot and add a handful of walnuts or hazelnuts. The cake tastes best still warm with lashings of salted caramel butter. Its great with cup of coffee for breakfast as well. Loaf 2 tends to be slightly denser as it has wholemeal flour.

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter

100g darkbrown sugar

100g caster sugar

2 med eggs

3 ripe bananas

50g ricotta

140g cake flour

30g ground almond

Zest of 1 lemon

1tsp vanilla

1 large or 2 med apple, sliced thinly

1tbsp vanilla sugar

Hanful of pumpkin seeds/flaked almonds

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with greaseproof paper. In a processor, beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs and whizz briefly. Add the banana, zest, vanilla extract, ricotta and whizz again. Sift all the dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly fold into the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin, arrange the apple slices on top and evenly sprinkle a layer of vanilla sugar and pumpkin seeds over the top of the loaf. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Serve with salted caramel sauce while still warm.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

30g unsalted butter

50g sugar

125ml heavy cream

1tsp sea salt (I used maldon)

Method:

On a med heat melt sugar until it reaches a dark amber and slowly whisk in the cream. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Now off heat add the salt and butter. This is great poured over toasts, ice-creams, cakes. Reduce the amount of salt to 1/2 tsp if you want a milder salted caramel.

White Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake with Baileys & Cranberries

As promised I am back with this smooth like velvet, white chocolate cheesecake with baileys & cranberries. Don't ask me why, but this mixture of ricotta, cream cheese & quark makes a very luxurious filling. It bakes to a dense, creamy sweet filling that practically melts in your mouth. The sweetness from white chocolate & the tartness from the cranberries are just perfect, with hints of baileys as you dig in. I reckon you could use chocolate digestives and skip the cocoa & chocolate, but somehow this method below makes it more chocolatey. 

White Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake with Baileys & Cranberries

Ingredients 
For the base 
100g digestive biscuits 
25g blanched almonds 
50g dark chocolate chopped 
30g butter 
1 heaped tbsp cocoa 
For the filling 
170g good quality white chocolate 
200g soft cream cheese like Philadelphia 
300g tub ricotta 
70g quark 
3 large eggs 
2tbsp Baileys (I used hazelnut flavour) 
1tbsp lavender honey
handful of cranberries 
zest of 1 orange
Method: 
Preheat the oven to 160C. Spray an 8-inch spring form tin with non-stick spray. Now pulse the biscuits & the almonds for a minute until fine. Add cocoa, chocolate and butter, process until you get sandy rubble. Transfer the mixture into the tin, press onto bottom and a little up the sides of the tin. Freeze the tin until needed. 
Melt the white chocolate using a double boiler or microwave and set aside. In a processor, blend the ricotta until smooth. Add the cream cheese & blend, stopping the processor occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Blend in the honey, baileys and orange zest. Now add the eggs and pulse. Add the melted chocolate & whizz until you get a satiny smooth batter. Stir in the cranberries. Pour the filling to the cooled crust. Bake the cheesecake until filling is just wobbly in the centre and edges begin to crack, about 45min-1hr. The cheese cake I baked took about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow to cool, leaving the door ajar. Refrigerate overnight or for a couple of hours and serve chilled with coulis if desired. 

Guest Post for Made With Pink

Here's the sneak peak of the guest post I am doing for Andrea. I was honoured when she asked me to guest post on her blog, while she was away on maternity. You will find the recipe here at Andrea's beautiful blog called MadeWithPink. And please, wish her a happy motherhood!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As a kid I could never say few things. I would use ‘tha’ for ‘kha’…‘na’ for ‘ra’ and made up my own language. I had difficulty in saying pumpkin and I always called it ‘umpkin’. I grew up in south India where pumpkin not only appeared during holidays but was pretty much a normal everyday vegetable. Mum made curries with it and also made a gorgeous sweet halwa with it. For a long time I made this too, but I changed. Last Year, I made pumpkin cupcakes.

Anyways, it’s time for thanksgiving and there are things that always re-appear on the holiday table. One such thing is this humble umpkin pumpkin pie. It’s like Marmite you either love it or hate it!

With holidays soon approaching and things to do, it must be crazy week for everyone. Some of you have travel plans to be with your family, some of you must be busy planning Christmas menu, some of you amidst madness in crowded stores shopping for loved ones. And then some of us have to finish work before the holidays begin. phew!

But, I am really insanely thankful for all things truly important: great friends, far-away but dear family, good food, job I love & a good life. I am thankful for meeting S who loves me immensely for what I am {and loves food ;-)}, I am thankful for meeting lovely friends who have become family and for their amazing support and unconditional love. I am thankful for meeting new friends through this blog who have become a part of my life now. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

This robust pie has a very gorgeous roasted pumpkin flavour, smokily intense sweetness from dark brown sugar and honey, heightened creaminess with the use of ricotta & cream, spiciness from the fresh ground spices & zestiness from fresh orange zest & booziness from brandy to remind us of holiday flavours.. 

Pumpkin Ricotta-Brandy Pie
For the pastry I used the recipe from here
For the filling:

Ingredients
800g of roasted pumpkin puree
4 eggs
100g dark brown sugar
120ml heavy cream
100g ricotta or mascarpone or cream cheese
3 tbsp brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp acacia honey
1 tbsp pumkin spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg)
More whipped cream for piping on top.
Method:
Whizz everything in a processor & pour onto baked pie shell. Bake in a pre-heated 180C oven, for about 35-45 minutes or until it slightly wobbles. Allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for a few hours before slicing and pipe some cream on top.

Triple chocolate espresso cake = Triple the fun

I am still here guyz and I promise to make something special blogwise soon! Just been very busy and I need to give you SOME NEWS soon! For now I have a cake recipe to share..The most sinful cake ever!

Last weekend was so much fun. It was a dear friends 30th and boy we had some serious fun..

 I made 2 cakes one a rich Triple Chocolate Espresso Pound Cake frosted with whipped Mocha Mousse and a Chocolate Espresso Cake layered with Mocha Mousse & covered in chocolate collar. If you think its chocolate-coffee excess, let me tell you we needed all of it!

How the Cake was Demolished in Minutes!

Easy Peasy Triple Chocolate Espresso Cake (adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible)
Ingredients
125 gm Plain flour
35g cocoa powder
1tsp instant coffee
60ml cup freshly brewed coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
175gm granulated sugar
½ tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
185gm unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Dark chocolate +1/4 cup milk chocolate+1/4 cup peanut butter/white chocolate chips
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 7inch pan (I have used a Giant cupcake form).Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat after each addition. Sieve the dry ingredients into one bowl and toss the chocolate chips in one tbsp. of the sieved flour. (This helps the chips to stay all through the batter rather than sink). Add the coffee along with the dry ingredients and fold carefully. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour the into the form and for about 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

For the Whipped Mocha Mousse Icing I used the Mocha Mousse recipe from here  and just piped free-form using a large star tip.

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies for my Blog

Its been a while since I blogged about food..I mean, I have not managed to make something blog specific, although, in between, I have managed to bake more than a dozen cakes. Of course I was busy! With FBC & then I met my old friend and weekends have never been the same. More celebrations..More Cakes but no time for a blog baking! With summer officially over, there is no better way to welcome autumn & the chilly nights than a big chunk of ooey goeey fudgy brownie warm with or without a scoop of ice-cream. Now is the time to get cozy and all cuddly finding comfort & warmth in steaming bowls of soup and favorite puds. (I for some reason find cold seasons particularly romantic).
{PS: 'S' has gone all soft & gooey like these brownies...he bought me this really gorgeous charm }.

I made these from Eric Lanlard's recipe and I do sometimes mix a bit of green-tea or raspberry powder to the cream cheese mixture along with some ricotta, for a different flavor high. Sometimes I just bake them plain and toss some fresh raspberries & white chocolate into the batter. This time I just left them plain.(As you can see not the best swirl pattern). You could slightly underbake it if you like oozy gooey & bake it a little longer if you want fudgy brownies.
Cream Cheese Brownies
For more RECIPE IDEAS visit BakingMad
Ingredients
For the Brownie
150g Unsalted Butter
200g Dark Chocolate, chopped
100ml Strong Coffee
250g Sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract
Pinch Salt
3 Eggs
100g Plain Flour
For the Cream Cheese Swirl
100g Cream Cheese
50g Ricotta
60g Sugar
1 Beaten Egg
1tsp Vanilla Extract
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm square tin with butter and line with baking paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate in large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat once melted and leave to cool. Stir the sugar, vanilla and salt into the butter and chocolate mixture, then whisk in the eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in the coffee, then sift in the flour and beat until glossy. Set aside.
For the cream cheese swirl, in a bowl beat the cream cheese & ricotta until smooth and then stir in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Spoon the brownie mixture into the lined tin, then top with the marble topping mixture, using a skewer swirl & create a marbled effect. Be careful not to over mix or you will lose the effect. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 mins – you may have to cover the tin with foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking to prevent the top from over browning.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the tin. Refrigerate the brownies for a few hours in fridge or freezer if you want clean lines when cutting the brownies.