Double Chocolate Cheesecake

If you have read any of my blog posts so far, you know one thing about me: I love cheesecake. And I love chocolate. So together? Absolutely amazing... which results in this recipe: Double Chocolate Cheesecake, enrobed in a Dark Chocolate Ganche.

Theres no way around it: making cheesecake is tricky. It involves using a springform pan, which has a removable bottom, and sides with a latch on it. This allows you to let the cheesecake set, then take away the sides so it stands alone, but leaving the bottom for support. But I am jumping ahead, lets start at the beginning....

The crust! You can buy a pre-made graham crust, but its so much better to make you own. I used a box of chocolate wafers, and crushed them into a fine paste. This is alot easier if you use a food processor, but I like the old-fashioned way. And I don't have a food processor :)

Anyway, after you crush the cookies, I mixed them with one Tablespoon of sugar, and melted butter......

then pressed it into the bottom of the springform pan, after buttering-and-flouring the springform pan to prevent the sides from sticking. I baked in for about 5 minutes so it would set, and while I did that I started the filling.

The filling is basically cream cheese, more cream cheese than you could possibly fathom would fit in a pan- 24 oz. Thats 4 packages of cream cheese! This cake is delicious, but it is in no way a low calorie snack :) I mixed that with sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and eggs to make the first part of the filling in my KitchenAid.

Then I mixed that with melted chocolate, and smoothed it on top of the cookie crumb crust, then baked it for about an hour, until the middle is just set.

When its done, it should look like this! Its ok if the top cracks a bit, because the topping will cover any mishaps or bumps.

Refrigerate the cheesecake for a few hours, or over night like I did. The cake will naturally deflate a bit, and cracks might develop. But now its time for the topping! You can top the cheesecake however you want, with any garnish. I decided to use a dark chocolate ganache, which is just a thick chocolate coating, to finish my cheesecake!

To make this ganache, I mixed dark chocolate, sugar and heavy whipping cream, and heated it until it formed a smooth chocolate paste.

Before using the ganache, its a good time to take the cake out of the springform pan. This should be done carefully, as the pan is what is holding the sides up. First slip a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the sides, then undo the latch, and gently wiggle the pan off the sides of the cake. Its ok if it doesn't look perfect, just smooth down any perfections and add the topping!

Then, after cooling the ganache a bit, I poured it on top of the cheesecake, smoothed it over the sides, treating the ganache like frosting.

Then, I topped the cheesecake with fresh raspberries, and chilled it over night.

Delicious! This was a perfect ending to a perfect Senior Project. And as I sit here eating a piece of this chocolate-y cheesecake, my only thought is: What do I bake next? :)