Brownies with Chocolate-Cheesecake Topping

I know these pictures look like an oddly swirled lump of chocolate and something white but really these are brownies with a cheesecake and chocolate topping. I will admit, these look nothing like the beautiful picture in Carine Goren's Sweet Secrets, but they were pretty darn good. I made these also for my commander's surprise post-sheva brachot sheva bracha and by the next day, all the brownies were gone. I was a bit nervous about how the brownies would come out but they turned out to be dense and fudgy. The cream cheese layer is a bit thin (my pan was American size, I guess a bit larger than Israeli pans) and because I didn't let it chill sufficiently, the chocolate kind of muddled with the cheese. Instead of trashing the whole thing (which I totally would have done!) I just decided to swirl the whole thing and really no one was the wiser. Kind of messy to eat but worth getting chocolate on your chin for... and I'm not even a cheese person. It's really critical that your cheese and margarine for the filling is at room temperature or else they wont blend well enough. I made that mistake and had to strain the filling. Be smart though, give each layer enough to time to chill so that theyll come out picture-perfect.

Brownies with Chocolate-Cheesecake Topping
adapted slightly from Sweet Secrets 2

Brownies:
150 grams bittersweet chocolate
120 grams margarine
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp espresso powder
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp salt

Cheese Layer:
200 grams gvinat shamenet, room temperature
50 grams softened margarine
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Topping:
150 grams bittersweet chocolate
30 grams margarine
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp espresso powder

For the brownies: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a 9x13inch or similarly sized pan with parchment paper. In the microwave, melt the chocolate and margarine. In a separate bowl, beat sugar, eggs, and coffee for about a minute. Pour in the chocolate mixture and blend. Fold in the dry ingredients and pour into the prepared pan. Bake for about fifteen minutes- do not overbake! Cool completely.

For the cheescake filling: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cheese and margarine until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until blended. Spread over the cooled brownies. Chill at least two hours to set up.

For the chocolate topping: Combine all of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and melt. Stir to combine. Pour over chilled cheese, spreading to coat completely. Chill the brownies for an additional two hours.