Cleaned Up Cream Cheese Brownie Cake

This recipe comes from an old cook book called So Fat, Low Fat, No Fat by Betty Rohde. I used to make this all the time when I was in college. It's already a pretty good recipe but I wanted to clean it up to eliminate the refined ingredients and make a few substitutions for things like fat-free mayonnaise and light corn syrup (yuck)!

Cake:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unrefined golden cane sugar (I use Cuisine Camino brand)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tbsp honey or agave syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup warm water

Cream Cheese Swirl:

1/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 tbsp unrefined golden cane sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 inch square baking dish.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Stir until blended. Add yogurt, honey, vanilla and water. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into greased baking pan and set aside while you prepare the cream cheese topping.

3. In a small bowl. combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Mix together until smooth and creamy. Drop about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into 4 or 5 places on top of the cake batter. Place the tip of a butter knife into the centre of each cream cheese dollop and drag the cream cheese around to make swirls on top of the cake.


This is my swirl after baking. It sucks. Sometimes it takes some practice, and it helps if your cream cheese is really soft and creamy!

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes in pre-heated oven until cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool, then cut into squares. Serve with melted Toblerone Fudge Sauce.

This post is part of Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free.