Re-resurrection. A Gift of Chocolate.

The new witching hour for buildabelly seems to lie somewhere between 10:30 p.m. and 12 o'clock midnight. I don't know why this is, and I wish it were not so. I should be sleeping! I like sleeping! I don't sleep enough.

Since the grand re-opening of buildabelly three months ago, I've posted two recipes. Yes, you read that right.

(Two.)

I was given a Fancy Camera for my April birthday but have yet to take a single picture of buildabelly food with it, so the lackluster posts to come will be illustrated by the Not-As-Fancy Camera of the last four years.

Without further ado (trumpets, please):

Recipe... Number... THREE!

Courtesy of Christmas Afternoon Dessert-- The Best Brownies Yet

I purposely added "Yet" because there's always room for improvement. I've said this before, but brownies and cheesecake are two foods that please me eternally. Even when botched, they're still good. These brownies have five essential ingredients:

#1. Chocolate
#2. Fudgy-ness
#3. Chocolate
#4. Cream cheese
#5. Yet more chocolate

Oh.
#6. And heavy cream.

Not so difficult, eh?

But for the sticklers among us, I offer an extended recipe list:

Brownie Layer
- 1/2 cup butter (BUTTER), cut into slices
- 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I always substitute baking cocoa and oil for baking chocolate because I'm cheap resourceful, with no ill effect)
- 1 and 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt

Cream Cheese Layer
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temp. (I use neufchatel- light cream cheese- because I'm...something, with no ill effect)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg

Chocolate Ganache Layer
 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream
 12 oz. semisweet chocolate

I always wing the ganache topping. More cream and less chocolate makes for a thinner ganache. More chocolate and less cream makes for a more solid ganache. Take your pick!

For brownies, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate together. (If you're cheap resourceful, stir melted butter & oil together and add baking cocoa to the flour mixture). To butter mixture, add sugar and vanilla. Stir well before adding eggs, one at a time. In a small bowl, stir together flour and salt (and baking cocoa, if using) before beating into the butter mixture. Stir until smooth and glossy and spread into a 13" x 9" baking pan.

For cream cheese layer, mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg until well-blended. Spread evenly over the brownie batter.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until brownie just begins to pull away from the edge of the pan. (Do your brownie a favor and don't overcook.)

Meanwhile, place semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Then heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for a minute. Stir until smooth and glossy and spread over cooled brownies.

Let the ganache layer cool before eating. (Put the pan in the freezer already!)

I triple-dog dare you to eat just one.