Chocolate Brownie and Lemon Cheesecake with Italian Meringue

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that summer is finally here! We've had a series of rainy weeks here on the East coast, but we can finally switch out our rain jackets and boots for shorts and flip-flops. And of course, we need to make a summery dessert to celebrate!

This tasty goodness is a perfect composition of decadent chocolate brownie, creamy lemon cheesecake and a light Italian meringue. I mean, what's not to love?

I love rustic looking desserts, mainly because they're usually easy to assemble and let the ingredients be the star of the show. This was my first time using frozen raspberries, and I love how beautiful they look! They add a nice colorful touch to the dessert and pairs nicely with the lemon flavor, too.

In the making of this dessert I am especially proud of two things, 1) I didn't light the kitchen on fire using the blow torch, and 2) I restrained myself from eating half of the dessert before it made it to the table. I might have had a few "test bites".

Happy baking!


Fudge Brownies
from Passion for Baking

9 oz. (250 g) dark chocolate (55-60% cocoa solids)
½ cup (120 g) unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tsp sea salt
7 oz. (200 g) dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a 9 x 12-inch (25 x 30 cm) baking pan with baking parchment.
2. Place the 9 oz. (250 g) chocolate into a heat proof bowl with the butter and melt over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat.
3. Place the eggs and sugar into a mixing bowl and stir with a hand whisk. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture.
4. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt and fold into the mixture. Fold in the chopped chocolate and vanilla. 
5. Pour the batter into the lined pan and bake for 30 minutes, no longer. Let cool completely.

Lemon Cheesecake
from Passion for Baking

150 g sugar
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 ¼ dl lemon juice (ca. 3–5 lemons)
3 large eggs
2 gelatin leaves
300 g cream cheese


Directions:

1. Combine sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and egg in a pan and heat it over low heat, stirring constantly. 
2. Add gelatin leaves in cold water for a few minutes to soften them. 
3. When the batter begins to thicken, squeeze water out of the gelatin leaves and have them up in the boiler. Stir well so the gelatin is completely dissolved. 
4. Pour the mixture into a blender. Let lemon mixture to cool for 5 minutes (or until the mixture is 60 ° C) before adding cream cheese. Then run the blender for a few minutes so that the lemon mixture is completely smooth. 
5. Pour it over the cooled brownies bottom and set the cake cool, for a few hours or overnight.

For the Italian Meringue recipe, check out this earlier post.