Can you imagine the world of baking and pastry without the luscious rich creamy chocolate cheesecake! It's actually hard to imagine.... Anyhow, we'll let your desert-craving appetite decide on that. But for now, you must know that this baked chocolate cheesecake is absolutely delicious and the recipe is worth trying. It calls for:
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 full Cup of chocolate wafer cookie crumbs.
- 1/2 Cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/4 Cup of sugar.
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 4 packages of softened cream cheese 8oz each (room temperature).
- 4 large eggs.
- 1 1/2 Cup of granulated sugar.
- 1 Cup of sour-cream.
- 1 Cup of whipped heavy cream.
- 8oz (200-250g) of semi-sweet chocolate (melted).
- 1/2 teaspoon of almonds extract.
Chocolate Ganache Topping:
- 4 oz of semi-sweet dark chocolate (chopped).
- 1/4 Cup of heavy cream.
Garnish (optional):
- Chopped almonds, hazelnut or any type of nuts you prefer.
Directions:
- Start off by preheating the oven to 375 F.
- To make the crust, mix the chocolate cookie crumbs, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of unsalted butter in in food processor until moisten.
- In a 9 inch non-stick springform pan, press the crumbs mixture firmly and evenly onto the bottom of the pan.
- place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 min and then set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.
- Using the electric mixer, add 4 packages of softened cream cheese and 1 1/2 cup of sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat in at medium speed until fluffy.
- Add eggs; beat in well one at a time.
- Add the whipped heavy cream and sour cream to the mixture and beat in until well blended. Make sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Add 8oz of melted semi sweet chocolate and 1/2 teaspoon of almonds extract to the mixture and blend in until well incorporated.
- Pour the cream cheese filling onto the crust you have made earlier and bake in water bath for 1 hour.
- Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another hour without opening the oven door.
- Take the cheesecake out of the oven, run a palette knife around the edges to loosen the cheesecake and then let it cool completely on wire rack.
- Once cooled, cover it loosely and refrigerate up to six hours. For better results, let it set overnight.
- To make the chocolate ganache, put 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a small sauce pan, bring it to a boil, then remove from heat. Add 4oz of chopped dark semi sweet chocolate the cream and keep stirring until melted. Set it aside for 5 minutes until thickened.
- Spread the chocolate ganache on top of cheesecake and garnish with almonds, hazelnuts or any types of nuts you prefer and serve.
How to prepare a water bath for baking:
Wrap the bottom half of the cheesecake springform pan with aluminum foil. Place it in roasting pan filled with boiling water halfway up side the springform pan. Transfer the water bath pan to the oven with caution. Make sure not to spill water in the cheesecake pan.
