Many Desserts In One: Russian Black n' White Brownie Cake

If you ever find yourself in the horrendous — and we mean truly, truly horrible — position of having to choose between a gooey, chocolatey brownie and a silky, creamy piece of cheesecake, you have our sympathies. Certainly it's ok to be greedy and have both, right? No? What if we told you that you could have both, in one and the same dessert? Oh, that's got your attention, does it? Get ready for drool city!

You will need:

For the brownie cake base:

• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 2½ cups flour
• ⅓ cup cocoa
• 2 tsp baking powder

For the cheesecake topping:

• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup melted butter
• 18 oz cream cheese
• 1 package of vanilla pudding mix
• 1 tsp lemon zest

Here's how:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the brownie base in a medium mixing bowl and knead into a dough using either your hands or if using a stationary kitchen mixer, a dough hook.
2. Divide the dough into two portions, one ⅔ and the other ⅓. Cover the bottom of a brownie or cake pan with the larger portion of the dough.
3. Combine all the ingredients for the cheese cake topping in a medium mixing bowl and stir until smooth.
4. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie base and smooth with a spatula. Now break off small bits of the remaining brownie dough and distribute randomly over the cheesecake layer. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 °F.

Now it's time to indulge all of your dessert cravings at once. It's a brownie! It's a cake! It's a cheesecake! No matter what you want to call it, in my house, as soon as it comes out of the oven, it's as good as gone!