Twelve ingredients and an hour and a half, in one 8-inch square pan.
Three mixtures go into that pan and none of them is spread over the others. They are dolloped and then dragged together with a knife.
Why This Recipe Works
- Melted butter and chocolate give a dense fudgy base rather than a cakey one.
- An egg in the cheesecake mixture sets it so the swirl holds its shape.
- Dolloping rather than spreading keeps the two mixtures at the same level.
- Marbling with a knife pulls colour through without blending it away.
- Chilling before slicing gives clean edges through a soft swirled top.
Ingredient Notes
- Bittersweet chocolate
- Six ounces, chopped and melted with the butter. Bittersweet rather than milk — the base has to stay dark against a pale swirl.
- Cream cheese with sugar and an egg
- Eight ounces with a quarter cup and one egg. The egg is what sets the swirl firm rather than leaving it wet on top.
- Thick raspberry preserves
- A third of a cup, dolloped and dragged. Thick, so the streaks stay crimson rather than bleeding pink through everything.
- Fresh raspberries
- Sixteen, one per square at serving, with more around the plate. The title names neither use.
How to Make It
Oven to 350°F, an 8-inch square pan lined
Heat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square pan.
Butter and chocolate melted, sugar, eggs and vanilla in, flour folded
Melt the butter with the bittersweet chocolate, whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla through it, then fold the flour and salt in.
Cream cheese beaten smooth with sugar and an egg
Beat cream cheese with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg until smooth.
Batter spread, cheesecake and preserves dolloped, marbled with a knife
Spread brownie batter in the pan, dollop cheesecake mixture and raspberry preserves over it, then marble them together with a knife without forming a flat layer.
Raspberry streaks added, baked thirty to thirty-five minutes
Top with a few raspberry streaks and bake 30 to 35 minutes until brownie edges are set and cheesecake swirls are just firm.
Cooled, chilled for clean slicing, a fresh raspberry on each square
Cool completely, chill before clean slicing, and top each square with a fresh raspberry at serving.
Dolloped and Dragged - Never Spread
These brownies are MARBLED: the cheesecake sits in the same plane as the brownie, pulled through it in swirls. Flattening it into a layer would make a different bake entirely.
The base - MELTED, and deliberately DARK
1/2 cup BUTTER melted with 6 oz of chopped BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE, then 3/4 cup SUGAR, 2 EGGS and 1 tsp VANILLA whisked in and 3/4 cup FLOUR with 1/4 tsp salt FOLDED. Melted rather than creamed puts no air in, which gives a DENSE FUDGY base. Bittersweet rather than milk chocolate is a visual decision as much as a flavour one - the whole marbling effect depends on maximum contrast between a dark base and a pale swirl.
The cheesecake mixture - and it contains an EGG
8 oz CREAM CHEESE beaten with 1/4 cup SUGAR and 1 EGG UNTIL SMOOTH. That egg is easy to overlook and it is structural: it sets the cheesecake portions during the bake so the swirls come out JUST FIRM rather than wet. Cream cheese without egg stays soft and the marbling slumps into the brownie as it cools.
DOLLOPPED - all three at the same level
Brownie batter spread in the pan, then the cheesecake mixture and 1/3 cup of THICK RASPBERRY PRESERVES DOLLOPPED OVER IT. Dollop is the operative verb. Spreading either one creates a stratum - a flat sheet of cheesecake sitting on a flat sheet of brownie - which is exactly what you want to avoid: DO NOT FLATTEN THE CREAM CHEESE INTO A BAND. Dollops sit in the batter at the same height, which is what lets a knife pull them sideways through it.
MARBLED WITH A KNIFE - a few long passes
Dragged together WITHOUT FORMING A FLAT LAYER. Long slow passes through the pan, a few of them, in one direction and then across. Many short stirring motions blend the three mixtures into a uniform muddy brown and the crimson streaks disappear. Then A FEW RASPBERRY STREAKS on top before it bakes, which is what puts fruit at the surface as well as through the swirl.
BAKED 30 TO 35 MINUTES at 350°F UNTIL BROWNIE EDGES ARE SET AND CHEESECAKE SWIRLS ARE JUST FIRM - two endpoints, because the two mixtures set at different rates. Then COOLED COMPLETELY, CHILLED BEFORE SLICING for clean edges through a soft top, and A FRESH RASPBERRY on each of the 16 squares AT SERVING, with more scattered around the plate. Baked cream cheese plus fresh fruit makes these a 40°F OR BELOW item.
Success Tips
- Dollop rather than spread; spreading pushes the cheesecake into a flat sheet.
- Drag the knife in a few long passes, not many short ones, or the colours blend.
- Chill before slicing and wipe the knife between cuts for clean squares.
Serving Ideas
Sixteen squares with a dark dense brownie base under a marbled swirl of pale cheesecake and chocolate shot through with crimson raspberry, each topped with a whole fresh raspberry and more scattered around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I spread the cheesecake in a layer instead?
No. It is dolloped and marbled through the top with a knife. A flat layer would make this the wrong recipe — the marbled swirl is what defines it.
Why both preserves and fresh raspberries?
The preserves are dragged through the swirl as crimson streaks inside; the fresh berries go on each square at serving. Two different jobs.
How do I get clean squares?
Cool completely, then chill. A soft swirled top smears under the knife at room temperature, and wiping the blade between cuts keeps the marbling sharp.
