Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

In preparation for a potluck at work, I found a recipe on the web at epicurious.com for a dark chocolate cheesecake.  Since I'm a lover of dark chocolate, I was immediately interested.  After reviewing it, I decided I would make a few alterations and bake a trial cake to see if the alterations worked and determine if  it lived up to my high standards and was worthy to take to work to share with my team and other co-workers.

The original recipe called for only bittersweet chocolate.  While I am a huge dark chocolate fan, I felt that using a little semi-sweet chocolate to help smooth out the edge of the bittersweet chocolate would be best for those folks who aren't real dark chocolate fans.

The result was a very rich and decadent cheesecake that lived up to exceeded my expectations.
I am sad to say that I have opted to not make it for our potluck.  Why?  If it is that awesome why would I deprive others of the shear ecstasy of indulging?  Well, I fear a large amount of waste resulting from folks taking more than they can eat and a good portion of this lovely truffle like cheesecake ending up in the trash and that would be such a tragedy.

However, I am going to share my recipe with you.  Just be aware of how rich it is and exercise portion control!  

Note that this recipe is for a small size cheesecake, only 6 1/2 inches.  Even this small size was too much for me to envision consuming within a reasonable period of time, so my neighbor was gifted half of the cheesecake.  If you want to make this in a standard 9-inch spring form pan, just double the ingredients.

 Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

12 Oreo cookies
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 T. melted butter

Filling:

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. + 2 T. granulated sugar
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs, room temperature

Topping:

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 c. whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
Butter a 6 1/2 inch spring form pan with 3" sides.  
Wrap a sheet of aluminum foil around the base and up the sides of the pan.

Crust:

In a food processor, pulse until the cookies are finely ground.
Add in the sugar and pulse again until well blended.
Add in the melted butter and process until well blended.
Press the crumbs evenly in the bottom of the spring form pan.  Do NOT press crumbs up the sides.
Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven.  Set aside to cool while preparing the filling.

Filling:

Break chocolate into small pieces and melt in the top of a double boiler until melted and smooth.
Remove the bowl; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pour-able.  In the meantime, blend the cream cheese, sugar and cocoa powder together until smooth.  Blend in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. 

 Lastly, mix in the melted chocolate.

Pour the filling over the crust and smooth out the top.
Bake until the center is just set and appears dry.  Mine took 60 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes.  Run knife around the sides of the cake to loosen. Do not remove the sides of the pan yet!  Chill overnight.

Topping:

Break the chocolate into small pieces into a heavy saucepan.  Add the sugar and cream.
Over medium low heat, stir the mixture until smooth and glossy.  When smooth, remove from the heat.  Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.  
Pour over the center of the cheesecake, spreading to the edges (This should fill in any cracks.).
Chill until topping is set, at least an hour.  Cover and keep refrigerated.

Release the pan sides, transfer the cheesecake to a pretty platter.  Top with chocolate curls if desired.
Let stand 2 hours at room temperature before serving.

It is wonderful with a dollop of fresh whipped cream alongside.

......and that's What's Cooking at Cathy's ~ Enjoy!