Black and White Brownies

What, no ticket to the 2011 Oscar Awards this Sunday? Consider it a lucky opportunity to view the red carpet from the best seat anywhere: your couch. Throw your support behind Best Actress Natalie Portman in the “Black Swan” with these black and white brownies – a real winner!

Black and White Brownies

Ingredients
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
½ cup butter

For the cream cheese batter:
6 tablespoons butter
9 ounces cream cheese
¾ cups sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoons vanilla

For the chocolate batter:
6 eggs
2 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoons vanilla
¾ teaspoons almond extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate and ½ cup butter and set aside to cool.

To make the cream cheese batter, with a whip attachment cream 6 tablespoons butter than add the cream cheese and continue mixing. Add the sugar; beat until fluffy then beat in the eggs, then flour, and vanilla. Set aside.

For the chocolate batter, in a separate bowl whip the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and mix into egg mixture. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter, and the extracts.

In a 9x13, lined with parchment, spread half the chocolate mixture. Spread the cream cheese layer over that to cover, and then drop remaining chocolate batter by spoonfuls on top then swirl with a knife. Bake for 50-55 minutes (toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the middle). Cool and cut into bars.