It's not a cultural dish, but somehow I find myself making this every year for my cousins and extended family for our Eid celebrations. It's simple but really rakes in all the compliments!

PREP + COOK TIME: 1 HR

MAKES: 12

INGREDIENTS

Brownie

• cooking spray
• 115g unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 0.25 tsp salt
• red food colouring
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 0.75 cup plain flour

Cream cheese filling

• 250g cream cheese, at room temp
• 1 egg
• 3.5 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, followed by eggs and vanilla extract until well combined. Mix in cocoa powder and salt. Add food colouring until desired shade of red is reached, then mix in sugar.
3. Fold flour into the mixture until just combined.
4. Pour batter into the prepared tin, reserving a quarter of a cup.
5. Make the cream cheese filling in a separate bowl by mixing together cream cheese with egg, sugar and vanilla extract.
6. Pour cream cheese filling over the brownie layer, spreading evenly to the edges with a spatula.
7. Dollop reserved brownie batter over cheesecake filling layer, leaving spaces between each dollop. Using a butter knife, swirl the dollops into the cream cheese filling in circular motions to create a marbled patter.
8. Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
9. Cool completely before slicing into desired sizes.

TIPS

• Don't swirl the batter too much or the pattern will be lose, and the brownie and cheesecake filling layer will mix into each other.
• For a vibrant red, add more food colouring as the colour will darken while baking.

Want more easy recipes? Check out The Student Cookbook. You can also pick up a hardcopy of the 2018 Cookbook at Arc Reception.