Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake recipe as promised.

Some of you may remember my ‘Death By Chocolate’ Easter post.

 

I had a few requests for the recipe. I always keep my word, so as promised, here it is. It’s from my Williams Sonoma Dessert book, and I looked to no avail for a link, so I wouldn’t have to type the whole thing out. I’m not a very fast typist, so this is a labour of love. 🙂 I do hope some of you make it.

Ingredients

For the crust:

1½ cups (4½ ozs/140g) chocolate cookie crumbs from about 30 crisp chocolate wafers.

3 Tbsp sugar

¼ cup (2ozs/60g) unsalted butter melted.

For the filling:

8oz/250g bittersweet/dark chocolate, broken into pieces

3 packages (8oz/250g each) full cream cheese at room temperature

3 Tbsp all purpose/plain flour

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup (5¼ oz/160g) sugar

¼ cup (2oz/60g) sour cream at room temperature

1½ tsp vanilla extract/essence

3 large eggs at room temperature

+

Milk chocolate curls for garnish

Method

Crust:

Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C)

Lightly grease a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan.

In a bowl combine cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter.

Blend well and press evenly onto the bottom and about 1½ inches (4cm) up the sides of the pan. Bake for about 10 minutes until set. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 300° F (150° C)

Filling:

Place dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water until melted. Remove from heat, stir well and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sifted flour and salt. using a mixer on medium to medium high, beat until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides frequently. Add the cooled chocolate, sugar, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well until just blended after each addition. Pour into the crust and spread evenly.

Bake until the filling is set but the centre still jiggles slightly when gently shaken (it will firm as it cools), 60-70 minutes. The edges will be slightly puffed. Let it cool on a rack to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate well until chilled (overnight is best). Garnish with chocolate curls made by using a vegetable peeler to shave the milk chocolate, which should be at room temperature but not too warm.

To serve, unclasp and remove the pan sides, then run a long thin knife between the pan bottom and the crust. Carefully slide the cake onto a flat serving plate. Using a thin-bladed knife, cut into slices, dipping the knife into a jug of hot water and wiping dry, between each serving.

Serves up to 16 people depending on appetites. 🙂

This is what it looks like without the bunnies and eggs.

My personal tips: I found that this cake tends to crack down the middle as it cools, so I suggest you run a thin knife around the sides before leaving to cool. If it does crack, you can easily repair the damage by carefully smoothing it over with a fork whilst still slightly warm. The chocolate curls will hide any damage. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Death by Chocolate Cheesecake.

We had such a great day today, and I saw my sister’s lovely new house for the first time. Of course, my mom was there in her Sunday best, and looking very good indeed. Scrumptious roast pork lunch with all the trimmings was on the menu, and I had been requested to make a chocolate cheesecake, which I happily did. When my sister saw it, she exclaimed, “You really don’t do things by halves, do you?” I have to say that it was absolutely ‘to die for’. Please help yourself to a slice, but you’d better not ask how many calories, and please don’t take the white bunny. That’s my brother-in-law’s. 🙂

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.