For this month’s Daring Baker’s post, the theme was cheesecake, and we could modify the basic recipe as much as we wanted.  Oh, the freedom!  I wanted to make something special for Easter, after having given up sweets for Lent, and I found this brownie mosaic cheesecake from Smitten Kitchen — regular cheesecake with chunks of brownies mixed in, and a chocolate graham cracker crust.  I planned to use the base recipe from Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake, chosen by Jenny Bakes, our host this month, but mix in some matcha green tea powder, which I’ve been wanting to try, and chunks of brownies as in Deb’s version.  I ended up using a base recipe more like Deb’s — when I got ready to make the cheesecake, I realized I’d forgotten to buy heavy cream, but if you want to try Abbey’s cheesecake, you can get that version from Jenny’s site.

Matcha is a very finely ground ground green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.  Lately, it’s been popular in baked goods for its vibrant green color.  As it turns out though, it’s incredibly expensive (if anyone knows a cheaper place to buy matcha online, please let us know in the comments!).  Instead, I ended up buying Double Green Matcha Tea from the Republic of Tea.  It’s in individual tea bags and is a combination of matcha tea and regular green tea.  I then ground it up more finely in our coffee grinder, but I still couldn’t get it as fine as real matcha, which I think is why the final cheesecake has visible flecks of tea in it and is only slightly green.  The tea only subtly flavors the cheesecake, but I think the bitter note helps to cut the richness of the cheesecake, and I really liked the addition.  For the brownies, I just used a mix, since they were only a small part of the final product, I didn’t think it was worth making them from scratch.

And finally, thanks of course to Jenny for hosting, and be sure to visit the blogroll on the new Daring Bakers’ site, to see what everyone else whipped up!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Matcha Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

Adapted from the Smitten Kitchen

For the cheesecake:
3 8-oz packages of cream cheese
1 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 t vanilla
3 bags Double Matcha Green Tea

For the crust:
10 oz chocolate graham crackers
10 T unsalted butter, melted
2/3 c sugar
1/4 t salt

About a half batch of chocolate brownies, cooled
1/4 c chocolate chips (optional, for swirl on top)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

For the filling: Cream the cheese in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla and sugar. If you want to do the swirled filling, take out about a quarter of the filling at this point. Melt the chocolate chips and allow them to cool a bit. Meanwhile, empty the tea out of the tea bags, and grind it up more finely either in a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder (both work about the same). Add the ground tea to the remaining filling. To the reserved filling, stir in the cooled chocolate. Set aside.

Make the crust: Finely chop the graham crackers. Stir together with the melted butter, sugar, and salt. Press into the bottom of a 10″ springform pan, baking sure to reinforce the corners so it doesn’t leak. At this point, you can either fill and bake immediately, or chill the crust and fillings (separately) up to 24 hours.

Cut the brownies into small cubes (an inch or so on a side). Scatter them over the bottom of the prepared crust. Pour in the green tea filling. If including the swirl, carefully pour in the chocolate filling on top. Use a knife or a skewer to create the swirled design in the top of the cake.

Place on a cookie sheet (in case of leaks) and bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes. The center should still be a bit wobbly when it’s done. Note: baking in a water bath is supposed to help prevent cracks, as is turning off the oven and cracking the door to let the cheesecake cool more slowly. I didn’t do either, and my cheesecake is a bit cracked, but I really don’t think it matters. If you really care, you could also top it with some kind of ganache or glaze (though in that case, the swirl on top is kind of pointless).

Allow to cool completely before serving.