By October. The month of MawMaw Shirley's birthday, the month when the air remembers how to be kind, the month when Baton Rouge exhales after six months of holding its humid breath. I am planning the eighty-first birthday — not as big as the eightieth, which required the mobilization of every Robinson from Houston to Baker, but significant, because every birthday at eighty-plus is significant. Each one is a gift. Each one is a gumbo. Each one is another year of the pot on the stove and the woman at the table and the family around her.
Microbiology is the hardest course I have taken at LSU — harder than organic chemistry, which I say with the full authority of a woman who earned two A-minuses in organic chemistry and respects what that cost. Microbiology is harder because it is not just memorization or mechanisms — it is ecology on a microscopic scale, the way organisms interact and compete and cooperate, and the complexity is dizzying. But the complexity is also beautiful, and the beauty is what keeps me studying, because beauty is a better motivator than fear, and I have used fear for long enough.
Physics is physics. I do not love it. I respect it. We have a professional relationship, Physics and I, and the relationship is built on mutual acknowledgment: I need Physics for the MCAT and Physics needs me for its enrollment numbers and we will tolerate each other until May. This is fine. Not every relationship is love. Some are arrangements. The arrangement is producing acceptable grades (B+ so far; I accept this) and that is enough.
I made jambalaya Monday — the tradition — and while I stirred the roux I thought about next year: MCAT in July, senior year starting in August, medical school applications in the fall. The timeline is accelerating. The steps are getting closer together. The staircase that leads to the white coat is narrowing, and the narrowing means I am near the top. Near the top is not at the top. But I can see the top now. I can see it from the kitchen, with a wooden spoon in my hand and a roux darkening on the stove, and the seeing is the thing that keeps the stirring going.
The jambalaya is the Monday ritual, the thing that keeps my hands busy while my head runs the numbers on MCATs and application cycles — but MawMaw Shirley’s birthday calls for something that goes on the table, not the stovetop, something that says we showed up for you in sugar and sweet potato and cream cheese. Sweet potato is as Louisiana as the woman herself, and these brownies layer that Southern root into something rich enough for an eighty-first birthday and easy enough that a microbiology student with one free afternoon can actually pull them off. I am making these for October, for MawMaw, for every year the pot stays on the stove and she stays at the table.
Sweet Potato Cheesecake Brownies
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- Brownie layer:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Sweet Potato Cheesecake layer:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato (from 1 medium roasted sweet potato)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
- Make the brownie batter. Whisk the melted butter and sugar together in a large bowl until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Sift in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder and fold with a spatula until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan, reserving about 1/4 cup for swirling.
- Make the sweet potato cheesecake layer. In a separate bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a hand mixer or stand mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the mashed sweet potato, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Beat until smooth and well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Layer and swirl. Spoon the sweet potato cheesecake mixture over the brownie base and spread gently into an even layer. Drop the reserved brownie batter in small spoonfuls over the top. Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the two layers together in slow figure-eight motions to create a marbled effect.
- Bake. Bake for 38—42 minutes, until the center is just set and a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake — the cheesecake layer should remain creamy.
- Cool completely before cutting. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Lift out using the parchment overhang, transfer to a cutting board, and slice into 16 squares with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 218 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 115mg