Tuesdays with Dorie: Hazelnut Cheesecake Brownies

I may have mentioned that my sister lives in Uganda. In Uganda, she has no refrigeration, no oven, and limited access to a variety of groceries. When I visited, I found all this to be surprisingly less of an issue than is sounds like on paper. She eats well and happily, but there is no question that her food limitations cause her to have a love/hate relationship with my blog.

In planning for her recent visit home, she mentioned several times that she hoped I would be baking for her, and must have mentioned it to some other people as well, because while she's been here I've gotten both a letter and a text message from a Ugandan friend of hers imploring me to make her all the cookies and candies that she desires, and possibly to send some back with her. Well, I don't know if these will make it on a two day plane trip, but I am at least fulfilling condition number one, and making her some lovely hazelnut cheesecake brownies. Not in the least self-serving and getting my TWD assignment out of the way. Pure sisterly altruism.

Well, these were supposed to be espresso cheesecake brownies, but as I began to make the cheesecake layer, I discovered that I'd clearly left my instant espresso powder at my parents' house last week. A quick substitution of hazelnut flavoring ensued.
But the general idea was fully realized--brownie bottom, marbled top layer of brownie and cheesecake. I haven't tasted them yet but they look very good.