Dark Chocolate Cheesecake


Cheesecake is probably one of Michael's all-time favorite desserts. Considering I'm not the hugest fan (crazy, I know), I've never made it before. This year for Michael's bday, I decided to surprise him (being the wonderful wife I am) and give it a shot. This required the purchase of a springform pan. Surprisingly, it wasn't the springform pan that ruined the surprise, but the 4 boxes of cream cheese glaring out from the fridge. Surprise or no surprise, Michael was still pretty pumped. I will warn you, if you want to give it a shot, read all the way through and plan ahead. I split the process over two days. End result? Ah-mazing!
Modified from Bon Appetit.


Ingredients

CRUST
  • 24 chocolate wafer cookies (I used graham crackers b/c I couldn't find wafer cookies. This made it a little more crumbly than it probably should've been)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

FILLING
  • 1 9.7-ounce bar 60% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 large eggs

TOPPING
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream
  • 6 ounces 70% bittersweet Chocolate, chopped (you can use sweeter chocolate if you'd like)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • Chocolate curls (I just used a vegetable peeler to peel off sprinkles of dark chocolate)

Directions

CRUST
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides. 
  2. Blend wafer cookies in a food processor until finely ground; blend in sugar. Add melted butter and process until well blended. 
  3. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake just until set, about 5 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.
FILLING
  1. Prepare a double boiler: fill a medium saucepan about 1/3 full with water and bring to a boil. Set a smaller saucepan inside. Add chopped chocolate in the small saucepan and stir until melted and smooth.
  2. Remove bowl from water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable. 
  3. Blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder in a food processor until smooth. 
  4. Blend in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. 
  5. Pour filling over crust; smooth top. 
  6. Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of cake to loosen. Chill overnight.
TOPPING
  1. 
Stir cream, 6 ounces chocolate, and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over center of cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2 inch of edge and filling any cracks. 
  2. Chill until topping is set, about 1 hour. Do ahead: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with foil and keep refrigerated.
ASSEMBLY
  1. Release pan sides from cheesecake. Transfer cheesecake to a platter. Top with chocolate curls. 
  2. Let stand 2 hours at room temperature before serving.


7 comments:

Taylor Allison said...

This looks incredible!

Gloria Baker said...

Love cheescake and this look absoluely yumm! whatr nice pictures!!

Leslie said...

This must be pretty much the most amazing cheesecake EVER!

grace said...

that's gorgeous! i love cheesecakes with toppings--cracks cause no problems that way. :)

Kerstin said...

What an indulgent treat! Happy Belated Bday to Michael!

Anonymous said...

wow -- decadent and delicious! uh oh --- midnight chocolate craving!! haha....thanks for sharing!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this recipe. I made it yesterday for a party and got a lot of great comments. I made one change to it - I didn't have wafer cookies so I used gingernut cookie crumbs. It worked really well with the chocolate. I will definitely make this again but next time I will halve the amount of the filling. There was a little too much cream cheesy part in relation to the topping and base for me. Also wanted to say thanks for great instructions - it came out looking exactly like your photos.....and that NEVER happens to me!!!!!!

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