My son wanted a birthday cake like the Brownie & Berry Cheesecake stack but he wanted the cheesecake to be changed to a mixture of coffee/caramel/vanilla.

"Sorry but you can't have 3 layers of cheesecake"

"Why not"

"It will be too much for the pan"

"Oh"

I ditched the caramel flavoured cheesecake & concentrated on the coffee & vanilla. My son was very happy with his birthday cake but is still trying to get me to make a triple cheesecake stack. I loved the combination of flavours in this cheesecake & have made a simplified version (minus the brownies) - Vanilla Latte Cheesecake.

If you have 3 x 20 cm square cake tins & can bake them at the same time use the total recipe. If you have 1 x 20 cm square cake tin (I bought one with a removable base, it was fantastic - Masterclass brand) follow the per brownie recipe.

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

 

Ingredients

Total

210 g Dark chocolate

180 g Butter

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

6 Eggs

255 g Brown sugar

102 g Hazelnut meal

75 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

36 g Cocoa powder

 

per brownie 

 70 g Dark chocolate

60 g Butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

85 g Brown sugar

34 g Hazelnut meal

25 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

12 g Cocoa powder

 

Cheesecake fillings

Coffee cheesecake layer

80 g Brown sugar

250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)

125 g Thickened cream

7 g Coffee (I used Moccona - with a hint of caramel)

35 g Hot water (just boiled)

1 1/2 Gold strength gelatine leaves

 

Vanilla Cheesecake layer

65 g Caster sugar

250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)

125 g Thickened cream

15 g Vanilla bean paste

15 g Vanilla bean extract

35 g Hot water (just boiled)

1 1/2 Gold strength gelatine leaves

 

Ganache#

100 g Thickened cream

140 g Dark chocolate

# I only used about 1/2 of the ganache

 

Flowers

~250 g Dark chocolate melts (compound chocolate)

Edible gold lustre powder (specialty baking stores)

Chocolate coated almonds

(My son requested Lindor balls, as shown in the photo above but they are not gluten free)

 

Method

Brownie

Preheat oven to 150 C (fan forced).

Lightly grease a 20 cm square cake tin (or 3 if you have them).

Line the base & sides with baking paper making sure the sides overhang. My oven has a strong fan & I had to use bull dog clips to stop the paper flapping/getting stuck on the top of the brownie.

Melt the chocolate & butter. 

Mix together the hazelnut meal, Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour & cocoa powder. I mixed together the total amounts of these ingredients & then used 71 g of the mix per brownie. 

Using an electric mixer (stand mixer is preferable) cream the eggs, brown sugar & vanilla together for ~8 minutes. It will be thick & creamy. 

Stir in the melted chocolate.

Stir in the hazelnut meal mix until well combined. 

Transfer to the cake tin & bake for ~20 mins. 

Bring the brownie out of the oven & transfer tin to the cooling rack. Allow it to cool before taking the brownie out. Repeat the above to make 2 more brownies.

Don't worry about the edges of the brownie they will be cut off. 

If you have a cake tin with a removable base while the brownie is baking wash & dry the mixing bowl, put out a cooling rack & a bread board. Cut more baking paper lining for the cake tin. When the brownie has ~10 mins to go start mixing the next one but don't put in the hazelnut mix. 

Bring the brownie out of the oven & transfer tin to the cooling rack. With oven mitts carefully push up the base (without burning yourself) & transfer base/brownie to the bread board. While it is still warm, using the baking paper under the brownie, gently slide the brownie off the base.

Put the base back in the tin, line it, finishing mixing the brownie, transfer to the cake tin & bake. Repeat for 1 more base.

Before proceeding with the cheesecake filling make sure the brownies are cool. 

Lightly grease a 20 cm square cake pan with oil. Line the base & sides with plastic clingwrap making sure the sides overhang. 

Put 1 of the brownie bases in the cake pan. 

Coffee Cheesecake

Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for approximately 5 mins.

Cream the cream cheese & brown sugar.

Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides & cream the mixture a little longer.

Add the thickened cream.

Beat the mixture until uniformly smooth.

Dissolve coffee in the hot water just prior to adding the gelatine leaves.

Take gelatine sheets out of the water, remove excess water & transfer to a container containing the coffee/hot water. The gelatine should immediately dissolve.

Add the gelatine to the cream/cheese mixture & stir to combine. 

Pour the cheesecake mix on to the base. Immediately top with another brownie base.

Refrigerate while preparing the Vanilla layer.

Vanilla cheesecake

Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for approximately 5 mins.

Cream the cream cheese, caster sugar, vanilla bean paste & vanilla extract.

Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides & cream the mixture a little longer.

Add the thickened cream.

Beat the mixture until uniformly smooth.

Take gelatine sheets out of the water, remove excess water & transfer to a container containing the hot water. The gelatine should immediately dissolve.

Add the gelatine to the vanilla/cheese mixture & stir to combine.

Pour the cheesecake mix onto the second brownie base & immediately top with the remaining brownie base.

Cover brownie cheesecake stack with plastic clingwrap & refrigerate for ~7 hours or overnight.

Make the chocolate flowers while the brownie cheesecake stack is cooling.

Gently lift out the brownie cheesecake stack, put it on a bread board & peel off the clingwrap from the sides. Using a ruler or spacer as a guide cut ~2-3 cm off each side of the brownie cheesecake stack. Carefully lift the cut cheesecake to a serving plate. 

Ganache 

Heat the cream to near boiling, add in the chocolate & stir until it is smooth. Let it cool slightly.

Pour a bit of the ganache on the top of the stack & with the back of a spoon spread it to the edges. If there is not enough ganache to drip down the sides add a bit more.

Add the flowers to the top of the stack before the ganache sets.

Making the flowers

I used the instructions from Taste magazine.

 

You will need:

• ~50 pieces of baking paper (~6.5 cm x 3.5 cm)
• cotton wool balls
• cupcake or tartlet trays
• paper towel (for the bench to catch the chocolate drips)
• a large knife
• small piping bag
• patience and a steady hand

Put a little of the gold lustre powder into a tiny container. Put in one of the chocolate coated almonds & coat it with the powder either using a brush or rolling it around in the container.

When making the chocolate petals keep the melted chocolate over a basin of hot water.

Put the chocolate on the side of the baking paper that is naturally curling upwards. 

Don't pick the petals up by the tip, they are fragile.

Have fun & enjoy eating your creation.