This recipe is modified from Fine Cooking April/May 2003. I have received several marriage proposals based on tasting this cheesecake. After I was already married.

This is fairly simple and quick to put together. Since you make it ahead of time, it is ready on whatever day you want to serve it and you can focus on main dishes. Also, if you have a 14 or 15 inch springform pan, you can double everything in the recipe and make a larger cheesecake with the same baking time. In my house, this is a rather frugal dessert, because except for the wafer cookies, and sometimes the cream cheese, we usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Conventional cheesecake baking wisdom says to bake in a water bath, to avoid cracks in the top, but I have never had a problem with that with this recipe and bake directly on the oven rack. The oven temperatures are low enough to counter any over puffing and overcooking.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups very finely crushed chocolate cookie crumbs (one sleeve of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers) - you can pulse in a food processor to crush
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cassia "cinnamon")
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (use good chocolate!), finely chopped
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons natural, unsweetened cocoa powder (I use dutch process, because it is darker and more chocolatey to my taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Make Crust: Pre-heat oven to 400˚F. Set aside a 9-inch springform pan.

Process In a medium bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs, sugar and cinnamon until blended. I do this by pulsing the sugar and cinnamon into the food processor bowl. Drizzle with melted butter and mix (or pulse) until well blended and crumbs are evenly moist. Turn out the mixture into a 9-inch springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes and set on a wire rack to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300˚F.

Make Filling and Bake: Mix the sour cream, vanilla and espresso powder in a small bowl. Set aside and stir occasionally until the coffee dissolves.

Melt chocolate in the microwave (you can use a double boiler, but the microwave is quicker) for about a minute, if it needs more do so at 15 second intervals. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, cocoa powder and salt until very smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and paddle frequently (and with each subsequent addition). Add the sugar and continue beating until well blended and smooth. Add cocoa and beat well to mix. Scrape the cooled chocolate into the bowl; beat until blended. Beat in the sour cream mixture until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just blended. (Don't overbeat the filling once the eggs have been added or the cheesecake will puff too much). Pour the filling over the cooled crust, spread evenly, and smooth the top.

Bake at 300˚F until the center barely jiggles when nudged, about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. The cake will be slightly puffed, perhaps with a few little cracks around the edge. Let cool to room temperature on a rack, then refrigerate until well chilled, at least a few hours, or overnight for the best texture and flavor.

To Serve: Unclasp the pan's ring, remove it, and run a long thin metal spatula under the bottom crust. Carefully slide the cake onto a flat serving plate. Run a thin knife under hot water, wipe it dry, and cut the cake into slices, heating and wiping the knife as needed. We usually serve it with lightly sweetened, vanilla whipped cream, strawberries in the summer. At this time of year, it is also quite lovely with peppermint ice cream. Especially if you have eleventy billion candy canes to use up.

Candy Cane Ice Cream

This turns pink from the candy, no dye necessary.

1 3/4 cups crushed candy canes
2 cups half and half
3 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a double boiler, combine 1 1/4 cups candy with the half and half and heat over barely simmering water, until scalded. Set aside and let steep for 15 minutes, or until candy melts. Whisk some of the hot half and half mixture into the egg yolks, return mixture to pan and cook over barely simmering water, stirring constantly, until custard coats a spoon. Immediately place the pan in a pan of cold water and stir to cool to room temperature.

Stir the cream and vanilla into the mixture. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (overnight is fine). Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. When almost completely frozen, stir in remaining candy.

This can be served soft, straight out of the ice cream machine, or put into a container and sealed to harden off in the freezer for several hours.

Labels: Christmas, Homemaking, Nativity, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 3:57 AM