Ketolicious Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Strawberry Swirl

 

Whenever el esposito is feeling blue, I try to bake him back to life... and with the pandemic, the blues seem to visit him with greater frequency, this keto fudge brownie has all of his favorite flavors rolled into one. You can certainly play with the ingredients, and even layer them differently, but I kept it fairly straightforward, so that the integrity of each layer shone on its own, but all the flavors are of course delectable when combined into one luscious bite. 

I use powdered Swerve and brown Swerve (erythritol) for the brownie portion but you can use one or the other or substitute your own sweetener, just bear in mind that Swerve can be subbed in for sugar 1:1 - not true for all substitute sweeteners. Those of you who are not on the ketogenic diet can just use sugar, of course. I cut it into 9 pieces. Be sure to use a sharp slightly warm wet knife and wipe it down after each slice. It is VERY rich... more fudge than cake... the strawberry swirl brought a nice flash of brightness and much needed acidity... I added no sweetener to the berries before pureeing them. 

Ketolicious Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Strawberry Swirl 

Preheat the oven to 350, prep an 8x8 inch enamel baking dish with parchment paper...
Make the brownie mixture first, then the cheesecake batter, then the strawberry puree. I used medium brown eggs because that's what I had, large eggs will be fine, it'll make the brownie slightly less dense than mine, but it'll still be plenty fudgey. You can, of course, prepare these batters by hand, or use a mixer. I used a food processor. 

For the brownie mixture 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of almond flour
• 11 tablespoons (about 3/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 medium eggs 
• 2 tablespoons of half and half (optional)
• 4-1/2 oz of unsalted butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 cup powdered Swerve
• 1/4 cup brown Swerve

Instructions:

1) Combine the first three dry ingredients in a mixing bowl

2) Cream the butter and the sweeteners in a food processor until light and fluffy & the sweetener was well-incorporated (about 5 minutes, including scraping down the sides several times) 

3) Add the cocoa/almond flour mixture to the butter, combining until smooth (about 3-4 minutes  scraping down sides of bowl occasionally) 

4) Process the eggs into the brownie mixture one at a time until smooth, if it appears too thick, add the the half & half one Tablespoon at a time until you like the consistency

5) Smooth mixture into body of baking dish and prepare cheesecake batter


For the cheesecake batter

Ingredients 

• 8 oz cream cheese ( room temperature)
• 1/4 cup powdered Swerve
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped strawberries (fresh or frozen and thawed) 

Instructions:

1) Whip cream cheese in a food processor until smooth (scraping sides of bowl with a flexible rubber spatula as necessary)
2) Add Swerve and process until sweetener is fully combined (scraping bowl as necessary)
3) Add peanut butter & process til smooth (scraping bowl as necessary)
4) Process egg into mixture (scraping bowl as necessary) 

5) Process vanilla and lemon juice
6) Dump batter atop the brownie batter and smooth
7) Without washing food processor bowl, add strawberries and puree until smooth 

8) Add dollops of strawberry puree atop cheesecake/brownie batter, then using a knife, run the the tip through the dollops of strawberry puree to create swirls

9) Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, center should still be jiggly

10) After 25 minutes turn off oven, crack open oven door, and let the cake cool completely

11) When completely cooled, chill in fridge for four hours minimum.