Marian Keyes' Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

I was very excited to find out that Marian Keyes has written a cookbook, especially when I discovered the title was 'Saved by Cake'.  I think I've read all of Marian's books and I'm sure for many people, like me, Watermelon and Sushi For Beginners were a right of passage when growing up.


'Saved by Cake' obviously isn't a novel however but her warm,witty writing means you do end up reading it from cover to cover.  I have a coupe of cookery books which I constantly turn to, one being Bill Granger's 'Everyday' for dinner ideas and I can see that Marian's is going to be my baking one. I literally want to try every recipe. Her book does have a story behind it however. It is a very honest account of how Marian recently suffered from depression and how baking helped her get through it, day by day.


Marian has kindly let me share one of the recipes from the book here.  I decided to go for the Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes as they sounded like they would completely hit the spot - and they did.  Mine came out as the very pale little sisters of Marian's rather more tanned older siblings. I'm not quite sure what happened but it seems like the chocolate in mine sunk to the bottom of the cakes. Oh well, they still tasted delicious and a liberal dusting of cocoa powder, the self tan of the cake world in this case, meant they looked a little more glowing.


As this recipe contains cheese and chocolate, it's my (rather late) entry into this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge too.

The Recipe


100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
250g mascarpone cheese
200g Philadelphia full-fat cheese
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
100g milk chocolate chips


1. Line a 12 hole cupcake tray with paper cases (or use silicone cupcake cases as I did) and preheat the overn to 150c/gas mark 2.


2. Melt the chocolate (I did mine in the microwave).  Beat the cheeses together, then add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and beat again.  Add the melted chocolate and mix well (Marian advocates the use of a purple spatula - mine is red - spatulas at dawn?), then add in the chocolate chips so they are evenly distributed. 


3. Divide the mixture among the paper case, filling them generously as the mixture doesn't really rise.


4.  Put the cupcakes in a bain-marie and bake for 40 minutes.  Once they are cooked pour the water away and place the cupcake tray on a cooling rack. Leave fora about an hour before you take the cupcakes out of the tin then refrigerate them, overnight if possible (I lasted a couple of hours before trying one!). Serve with whipped cream or just on their own.

Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies - A Random Recipe

When it came to my blog I got all out of kilter in July and August due to some lovely weekends away and a long holiday.   September has been a bit like going back to school for me and the routine has returned.  With that return to more normal weekends has been the chance to see what blogging challenges September has brought.  Dom over at Belleau 'spanking brand new' Kitchen (and very nice it is too!) set us the task this month of sifting through any saved recipe cuttings and picking one to make for his Random Recipe Challenge.  I love this idea - I am a serial magazine recipe snipper.  As a consequence I have recipes shoved in the front of books, in the magazine rack and in my 'to do' pile, all waiting to be tried out. If they make the grade they then get written or stuck in my actual recipe folder.  It wasn't hard to randomly select one and this ridiculously rich brownie recipe was the one I found. I think it is from an old copy of Sunday Times Style which was featuring recipes from the Green & Black's cookbook but I'm not 100% sure as I don't have the full article. I've been meaning to make this brownie recipe for ages, mainly because it looked so sinful on the picture. It is very puddingy in the respect I think it would be better eaten as dessert rather than with a cup of tea.  It tastes as decadent as it looks.  A little goes a very long way (probably on the hips too....).

The Recipe

For the brownie:

280g unsalted butter (yes more than one block of butter, sinful I told you)

170g dark chocolate (70% cocoa at least)

350g golden caster sugar (sinful again)

70g plain flour

pinch of salt

5 eggs

2 tspn vanilla extract

100g white chocolate, broken into small pieces

For the cheesecake:

350g cream cheese (I used 300g as that's what size the large tubs come in)

75g golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

170g fresh raspberries (I used one punnet)

1. Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4.  Grease and line a 20cm square tin.

2.  Make the brownie mixture by melting the butter and chocolate (microwave is fine and easy).  Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Combine the sugar, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, pour over the cooled chocolate and mix until smooth. Beat the eggs separately before adding to the mixing bowl along with the vanilla extract and the while chocolate.  Blend together until the mixture is shiny.  Pour into the prepared tin.

3.  Make the cheesecake mixture by whisking the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs until smooth and creamy.  Pour this over the brownie mix, trying to create an even layer.  Drop the raspberries into the tray.  Use a fork to swirl the mixture for a marbled effect.  

4. Bake for about 45 mins. The brownies should be set but still wobbly.  Leave to cool.