Plaza Bakery`s Cream Cheese Topped Chocolate

-----TOPPING----- 8 oz Cream cheese -- room temp

1/2 c Sugar

1 lg Egg -- room temperature

1/2 ts Vanilla

1 pn Salt

-----BROWNIES----- 8 oz Chocolate, bittersweet or

-semi-sweet, chopped 1/2 c Butter, unsalted

4 lg Eggs

1 c Sugar

1 t Vanilla extract

1/4 ts Salt

1 c Flour

1/2 c Chocolate chips -- semi-sweet

For topping: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9 inch square baking pan. The pan must be at least 2 inches deep. Dust pan with flour; tap out excess. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar in medium bowl until smooth. Blend in egg, vanilla and salt. Set topping aside while preparing brownie batter. For Brownies: Melt chocolate and butter in heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until thick, about 3 minutes. Stir in melted chocolate, then flour and semisweet chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Spoon cream cheese topping into pastry bag fitted with 1/2 inch round tip. Pipe cheese mixture in diagonal lines atop brownie batter, spacing line 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart. Run tip of small knife through cream cheese on opposite diagonal, spacing 1/2 inch apart and creating V pattern. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs still attached, about 40 minutes. Cool dessert in pan on rack for 3 hours. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Run sharp knife around pan to loosen. Cut dessert into 12 brownies. Serve cold. Source: The Houston Post, September 18, 1991 Submitted By LISE WARING <[email protected]> On TUE, 19 DEC 1995 093839 GMT