Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

This recipe makes a lot of brownies and uses a lot of chocolate, so it’s worth it to use the best chocolate you can find. Poulos prefers Valrhona 64 percent dark chocolate pistoles, although she says using chips instead of pistoles is fine. These brownies freeze beautifully, so don’t be afraid to make up the whole batch. 3 ½ cups dark chocolate

(about 1 ¼ pounds) ½ pound unsalted butter 2 ½ cups plus ⅓ cup granulated sugar, divided ½ cup lightly packed light

brown sugar 9 eggs, divided 3 tablespoons red food coloring (one 1-ounce bottle) 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon vanilla, divided 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon plus ¼

teaspoon salt, divided ½ cup cream cheese, room

temperature ½ cup mascarpone, room

temperature Sparkling sugar, sprinkles, edible glitter, if desired, for rolling truffles Graham cracker crumbs,

for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray a rimmed 12 ½-inch-by-17-inch baking sheet. Line with parchment paper and spray again.

In a large microwave-proof bowl, melt chocolate and butter. Allow to cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine cooled chocolate-butter mixture with 2 ½ cups granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until combined. With machine running, add 8 eggs, one at a time. Add food coloring and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Add flour and 1 teaspoon salt and beat until just combined. Pour two-thirds to three-quarters of batter into prepared baking sheet and spread with offset spatula to make an even layer. Move the remaining batter to a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and mascarpone until smooth. Slowly add remaining ⅓ cup granulated sugar. Then beat in remaining egg, remaining ½ teaspoon vanilla and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Spread cheese mixture evenly over brownie batter in prepared baking sheet.

Drop remaining brownie batter in dollops across cheese mixture. Use a butter knife to drag the two mixtures together to create a swirl pattern. Bake 35 minutes or until brownie is just set. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean. Do not overbake. Let cool completely. May be made up to 1 day ahead before cutting.

Dip a heart-shaped cutter into hot water and cut out brownies. Dip cutter into hot water between cutting each brownie for clean edges. Garnish heart-shaped brownies with graham cracker crumbs, if desired. Make truffles by rolling remaining brownie scraps into 1-inch balls and rolling in colored sugar or sprinkles. Makes: 24 2 ½-inch hearts and 50 1-inch truffles.

Per piece: 119 calories (percent of calories from fat, 46), 2 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 6 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 35 milligrams cholesterol, 51 milligrams sodium.

STYLING BY CHRYSTA POULOS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY RENEE BROCK Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies