Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

My favorite color is red. Vibrant! Especially powerful when it comes to food.

Red Velvet desserts were introduced to me back in college, when our cafeteria served "Sooner Cake" on home football game days. I think what I loved most was the cream cheese frosting. I never could pick out the exact flavors of the red cake, but I liked it. So what are the signature flavors of red velvet? I guess it would be the addition of cocoa and buttermilk.

I didn't mess with all that because I found a bottle of LorAnn Red Velvet Baking Emulsion at my Ross store. Just $2.99--that is a better deal that the whole bottle of red food coloring we typically seem to need to get that brilliant hue. This emulsion, and yes it is really thick, has the flavoring in there too. No need for buttermilk.

Having had a Red Velvet Cheesecake on my list of desserts to try out since last Christmas, I purchased a bottle about a month ago. The hectic pace of my life kept me from getting a sample made for Thanksgiving. Red Velvet is my oldest son's favorite. I did manage to get a couple of recipes done for the Diner News, however. One I will share. The other? (Mini Red Velvet Cheesecakes) You will have to order the newsletter for yourself! Hey, my devoted Diner News fans need some special perks too. Order here:

http://www.247lowcarbdiner.com/html/newsletter.html

Now on to the Brownies. I had a problem with these. Although many brownie recipes that use flour rely on the red coloring to be obvious in the brownie portion, in my almond flour based recipe, the chocolate overpowers the color. So instead of having a red brownie with white cream cheese, I opted to also color half of the cream cheese mix that goes on top. It worked wonderfully! These are gorgeous and so delicious too.

I don't like adding too many artificial flavorings and colorings to our diet, but this is an obvious special treat dessert. That and the Mini Cheesecakes in the Diner News are just for holiday celebrations around here. Of course, that might include Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Independence Day, Bowl Game day for my Oklahoma Sooners....you get the picture.

Red Velvet

Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Brownie

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup oil (of your choice or butter)

1 cup sweetener of choice

3 eggs

1 tbsp Red Velvet Emulsion

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sweetener (powdered would give the best texture over granular here)

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp Red Velvet Emulsion

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a heatproof bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave. Stir in oil and sweetener until well blended. Add in eggs, one at a time, stirring well until mixture looks glossy. Stir in the emulsion and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients and dry ingredients in the large bowl. Line an 8x8 dish with parchment. Pour batter into the dish.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese. Stir in sweetener, egg and vanilla. Use a large spoon to dollup mounds of cheesecake over the brownie batter. Use only half of the cheesecake mixture. To the remaining half, stir in 1 tsp emulsion. Dollup the rest over the brownie batter, alternating with the white mixture. Use a butter knife to swirl the two cheesecake colors together. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting.

If you cut the brownies into 9 servings, you have 3 carbs each, with about 325 calories if using a no carb, no calorie sweetener.

These are moist, easy to cut and the contrast in texture is wonderful. They are easy to put together too. Use whatever sweetener you prefer. The measurements are the equivalent for sugar. I tested with a sucralose sweetener, but erythritol blends and xylitol would be fine too--probably even stevia. So many choices there. Just do make them. They are perfect for holiday parties and will keep you on plan.