75grams/ ⅓rd cup - castor / fine granulated sugar *
8grams/ 1 tablespoon – corn flour / corn starch*
1tablespoonfreshly squeezed lemon juice *
½teaspoonlemon zest*
Pinchof salt
For brownie layer
135grams/ 1 cup - all purpose flour *
8grams/ 1 tablespoon - corn flour / corn starch
48grams/ ½ cup - unsweetened cocoa powder
250grams/ 1 and ¼ cup - granulated sugar
85grams/ 3oz / ½ cup - silken tofu puree
56grams/ 2 oz semi sweet chocolate bar chopped into pieces *
3grams/ ½ - teaspoon baking soda
¼teaspoon-salt
½teaspoon- lemon juice/ vinegar
75grams/ 2.6 oz / 5 tablespoon - butter at room temperature
3tablespoon- oil
3tablespoon– milk / water
1teaspoon– vanilla essence
Instructions
For cheese cake layer
Cream the cream cheese until smooth , 30 seconds or so
Add in the silken tofu puree and blend in smooth , 10 seconds or so
Add in the sugar and beat the mixture until smooth , 1 minute
Now add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and sifted corn flour and beat until smooth.
For brownie layer
Pre heat oven at 350 deg f / 180 deg c for at least 20 minutes.
Grease and dust base and sides of 9” spring form pan – for other pan types refer to important notes above.
I have used double boiler method . For microwave one please refer the notes.
Place a heat proof bowl over bowl of simmering water . Add the butter , oil , sugar and sift in cocoa powder to the bowl . Keep stirring gently. At first it will look very tough and gritty . Just keep stirring . It will come together at the end. After the mentioned 4 ingredients have blended well , add chopped chocolate and keep stirring until chocolate is melted . The mixture will still look pretty grainy. Now take it off the stove top . When it isn’t too hot too touch, say after 2 minutes, add in the tofu puree/ hung curd and give it a nice vigourous mix with a spatula/ spoon. It will become smooth and shiny. Add in vanilla essence milk and lemon juice , mix well . Keep aside.
Now time for dry ingredients – In another bowl sift other ingredients – flour , baking soda and salt. Add in the prepared chocolate mixture and fold it into the dry ingredients with spoon/ spatula . Everything should be mixed well and lump free within 40 strokes. Taste test .
Assembling.
Reserve ¼ cup brownie mixture for the top swirls.
Pour the rest of the brownie mixture in the pan .Give it a gentle tap . Now blob up the cheesecake mixture and gently smooth it out with a spoon or spatula.
Now to it up with brownie mixture . Swirl it up unevenly with a toothpick or a fork. Bake it somewhere between 38-45 minutes . Mine was done at 41 minute mark.
Start checking after 38 minute mark.
For doneness test – refer to important notes above
Take it out of the oven and let it sit in the pan for 15 minutes. Now loosen the sides with a butter knife and gently unlock the springform and let the cake cook on cooling rack .
After cooled completely at room temperature , cover it with plastic cling wrap or transfer it into an airtight container and place it in the fridge to further firm up for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Notes
Cream cheese should be soft i.e at room temperature , not directly from the fridge or melted If you are unable to find silken tofu , use soft or medium tofu – just puree it smooth before adding to cream cheese mixture. Quick Sift the corn flour before adding it to avoid lumps . Use small granule sugar because big ones will stay grainy . Use vegan cream cheese if you want to make this vegan. You can substitute tofu for hung curd in brownies and cheesecake. You can skip double boiler method for brownie and make butter,oil , cocoa , sugar and chocolate mixture in microwave on 50% power , stopping and stirring in between until the mixture has come together You can substitute chocolate bar for choco chips ⅓ cup semi sweet choco chips For possible pan sizes and types please refer to do’s and don’ts mentioned above You can store these brownies in the fridge for upto a week.