Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

It's definitely feeling like Autumn now. The leaves have almost all turned various shades of red, gold and orange and litter the floor in crispy heaps and the trees are beginning to look a little naked. A friend posted something the other night that made me laugh - it is officially 'once I'm home I'm not going out again' season which couldn't be more true. To be honest that is me most days. I'm definitely a homebody nowadays. I love to be just curled up on the sofa watching a film with all my boys and I'd take that over a night out clubbing any day!! That said last week I went out with a girlfriend to the cinema (we saw A Simple Favour which I highly recommend - Anna Kendrick is a total girl crush of mine) and it was the first time I'd been 'out' out since Wee Man was born. It was very strange but also kinda lovely to get a little bit of that part of me back and not just be 'Mummy'.

Halloween is less than a week away and normally I would be really excited. If we were in the UK Wee Man would have a whole new wardrobe full of novelty Halloween outfits and if nothing else this is the time of year when I find lots of bits to decorate my house but it doesn't seem to be so much of a thing here in Holland. Any one who knows me well will tell you I have a bit of a thing for skulls. I collect them. Where some people display their knick knacks and little china figurines I have my skulls. Last year my Christmas present from Mr R was a huge cow skull with a beautiful set of horns. I named him Rodger and he's hanging on the wall in our living room. I can pretty much pin point where and when this interest in skulls started and it goes all the way back to primary school.
We had an amazing Head Teacher called Mrs Cummisky (I think that's how you spell it, it has been a very long time!) she had the most fantastic collection of souvenirs from when she went travelling on holiday and they decorated her office, which I saw more than a few times, and the school library. I wasn't super naughty, just managed to get myself in trouble one way or another - like when I de-bearded Santa at the Christmas fair. Sometimes I think I just liked an excuse to go see her and stare at all the curiosities in her office. Fortunately I think she was quite fond of me, and I was very fond of her. One of the most amazing pieces she had was a horse skull which actually lived in the library along with a couple of other animal skulls. It was that that sparked that interest in me and I'm slowly trying to match her collection.
In other news the clocks go back at the weekend so we all get an extra hour in bed. However I don't think that will be the case in this house. How do you explain daylight savings to 2 cats and a nine month old? I doubt if they'll get the memo and I'm pretty sure I'll just be dragged out of bed at the same time except it will actually be an hour earlier.

You know when you have tried something over and over again trying to get it just right? You tweak it and tweak it again and each time it is nice but it's not quite right. I have been on such a mission with the recipe for these brownies. When I finally tried this incarnation of the recipe it was a total EUREKA moment. In previous batches the cheesecake had been too liquid and didn't swirl properly through the brownie others it just got lost in the brownie mix. After it was baked I was relived to see it was still looking good and then I cut a sneaky slice for me and Mr R and it was a fist pump 'Nailed It' moment. PHEW! I mentioned in my last post about our new healthy eating mission and it has not been easy with tubs of brownies hanging out in the kitchen. I had to give the trial batches away because eating all the 'not quite rights' was doing no good to my waist line (plus I needed human guinea pigs!)

For this post I really wanted to embrace the season. It is the season of pumpkin spice. Even in Europe the obsession with this flavour combo is creeping in and becoming more and more popular each Autumn. The blend of spices traditionally used to flavour a pumpkin pie, which is more of an American bake, are thrown into coffee, biscuits and just about anything sweet to make sure you know that it is officially Autumn. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what pumpkin spice is it's a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and sometimes allspice. Warm snugly spices that make you think woolly jumpers, fluffy socks and open fire places. However this combo shouldn't be limited to pumpkin dishes despite their name, throw them in apple crumbles or sprinkle over baked stone fruit and served with vanilla ice cream. It is very similar to the British mixed spice blend although that can also contain mace, coriander seed and even dill seed.
This recipe is the perfect accompaniment for a good book or film, a cosy chair and a mug of tea or coffee. It combines pumpkin and pumpkin spice in a rich creamy cheesecake mix which on it's own would be delicious and then swirls it through fudgey chocolate brownie. Still warm from the oven it is almost irresistible and fills the kitchen with a warm spicy chocolate smell that is enough to make you drool. The swirl of cheesecake is like orange smoke through the chocolate surface of the brownie. If you happen to have the extra dark, black cocoa the contrast would look stunning. Even without when you cut into the brownie and see the ribbons of the cheesecake mix running through the chocolate it really looks wonderful.

It may seem strange to use pumpkin in something sweet but trust me here. Vegetables in cake is no new thing. We all like carrot cake don't we?!
The recipe calls for pumpkin puree. I'm going to let you in on secret here, you can use butternut squash and no one will ever know. To be perfectly honest I prefer the flavour of butternut squash and think it's sweeter and tastier than actual pumpkin. I don't know if that has anything to do with the quality of pumpkin available or just my personal preference. Use what you can get hold of and don't beat yourself up about it. At this time of year both are readily available.
To make the puree I advise roasting the pumpkin or squash in the oven. If you peel the pumpkin and then boil it your pumpkin flesh will soak up water and you will end up with a wetter puree that will have a watery flavour and water down your cheesecake mix and you won't get the desired end result. If you roast it, it concentrates the flavour and the sugars in the flesh and you will have a sweeter, stronger flavoured puree. To roast it preheat your oven to 200°c, don't bother to peel just cut the pumpkin or squash in half (or smaller pieces depending on the size), scoop out the seeds and place on a baking sheet cut side up and roast for around 45 minutes. When it is tender remove it from the oven and when it is cool enough to handle scoop out the flesh and blend to a smooth puree.
If you are one of the lucky ones who can find it you can use a can of pumpkin puree. I found some quite by accident and serendipitously last weekend in a little store in De Pijp. I was so excited when I found it, it's one of those American ingredients that are so commonplace in the States but are almost iconic over here. The best thing about the can of pumpkin was that the sweet thick puree is perfect for this recipe. You only need about a quarter of the can for this recipe so you have plenty left for other dishes (I have another pumpkin recipe coming soon perfect for using up the leftovers) or perhaps you'll just want to make another few batches of these brownies!

PUMPKIN SPICE CHEESECAKE SWIRL BROWNIES
Makes 15

Ingredients

Brownie
145g Unsalted Butter
145g Dark Chocolate
175g Caster Sugar
3 Large Eggs
100g Plain Flour
25g Cocoa
1/8 tsp Salt

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake
100g Mascarpone
50g  Light Brown Sugar
100g Pumpkin Puree
1 tsp Vanilla Paste
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Large Egg

• Preheat your oven to 180°c and grease and line a baking tray (mine was 27 x 18 x 4cm)
• Place the butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water to melt. Once melted set to one side as you don't want it to be hot when you combine it with the other ingredients.
• Whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. You should be able to drizzle a figure 8 and it hold for a couple of seconds. It really is important to make sure you whisk this really well as there are no other raising agents in these brownies and this ensures they are light yet fudgey!
• Pour the cooled chocolate and butter into the whisked eggs and sugar and fold in gently by hand with a spatula. Once well combined sift in the dry ingredients and again fold in gently until just combined. Set to one side.
• To make the pumpkin spice cheesecake put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat together until smooth.
• Pour the brownie batter into your lined tray and spread it evenly. Drizzle over the pumpkin cheesecake in long rows. Then with the back of a spoon drag through the mixture diagonally from the left top corner of your tray to the bottom right corner. Repeat this from top right to bottom left. This creates an attractive feathering.
• Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares.

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