Love and Cheesecake

My very talented and amazing uncle sent me this recipe for Valentine's Day, but I have just gotten around to trying it. Since I gave up sweets for Lent, this was the perfect way to get back on the dessert train. My uncle has been making this for 20+ years and swears by it. He and my mother love to cook together and some of my favorite childhood memories are of the two of them making an amazing dinner for the family. I have gotten ahold of many of their recipes over the years and I was excited to acquire another.

Vanilla Chocolate Cheesecake

Adapted from: Maida Heatters Book of Great Chocolate Desserts

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of butter, melted + some for buttering the pan

4 oz. chocolate wafer cookies (think just the chocolate part of an Oreo)

6 oz. semisweet chocolate

12 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sour cream

plus, an additional 1/2 cup sour cream (2 cups total)

For the Crust: Butter only the sides of an 8"x2.5" or 8"x3" spring form pan (I actually used a 10"), not the bottom. The chocolate wafer cookies need to be ground to crumbs in a food processor fitted with a steel blade OR ground in the blender in batches OR placed in a heavy plastic bag and pounded with something heavy (rolling pin) until they are fine. You should have 1 cup of crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter in a bowl until the butter is evenly distributed. You will think there is not enough butter, but there is! Pour into the baking pan and use your fingers to press it into a compact, even layer on the bottom only. Refrigerate.

For the Cheesecake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate (You can do this in a double broiler, or in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time and ensuring it does not burn) and set aside to cool slightly.

Beat the cream cheese until very smooth. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix. Add the eggs one at a time, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating until smooth after each. Then add the salt and 1 1/2 cups of the sour cream and beat until smooth.

Beat the melted chocolate with the remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream (you can use the same beaters if you want). Remove 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese mixture and beat into the chocolate mixture.

Place the two batters, alternating colors by spoonfuls over the crust in the pan. Use the flat side of a table knife to marbleize; cut down the batters and use the knife to swirl them into spirals, zig zags, whatever you like! Don't over mix or you'll lose the contrast. Briskly rotate the pan a bit first in one direction, then the other to level the top. Bake for 30 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven. It will seem soft, but it is done. Cool on a rack to room temperature, then chill at least 5-6 hours before serving cold.

My skills with the final stage of swirling the batters was terrible, but it did not matter since this was delicious!

Enjoy!

xoxo

Erin