Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate cheesecake

Fancy a slice?

Okay, I’m not a big fan of cheesecake but Mr. Red loves them. So when I asked him what cake he wanted for his birthday, that was his answer *sigh*

We got invited to his parents’ house to celebrate his and his mum’s birthday and I was in charge for dessert. I honestly cannot stand fruity cheesecake (I don’t know why) so I decided to try making chocolate cheesecake instead (at least I know that everybody loves chocolate).

I stumbled upon the recipe from Joy of Baking website and tweaked it a little bit to suit everybody’s taste bud (Mr. Red and his family prefer a not-so-rich dessert). Instead of putting the ganache on top, I lightly dusted the cheesecake with chocolate powder and put fresh strawberries for garnish. I also baked the cheesecake on double bath to keep it moist.

Everybody was happy with how the cheesecake turned out, I didn’t mind it too much and ate a piece (good sign!).

So here’s the recipe for you folks if you’re a cheesecake fanatic, unlike me.

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake (enough to feed 8 people)

What you need:

For the crust

150 grams digestive biscuits, crushed

75 grams butter, melted

For the cheesy goodness

340 grams dark cooking chocolate (I use the 70% cocoa), roughly chopped

680 grams full-fat cream cheese at room temperature

200 grams sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

1.5 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

240 ml sour cream

How to do it:

Preheat the oven to 165°C . Grease a 25 cm spring form cake tin, wrap aluminium foil completely covering the bottom and halfway down the side of the tin (I wrapped it twice because I’m paranoid that the water will leak inside).

Combine all the ingredients for the crust and press the mixture evenly over the bottom of the tin. Cover and refrigerate.

Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally to prevent burning the chocolate on the side and in the bottom. After all the chocolate is melted, leave it aside to cool down a bit.

Beat the cream cheese with a mixer on low speed until smooth, gradually add the sugar and then fold the melted chocolate into the cheese mixture.

Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, make sure each egg is incorporated properly before adding the next one.

Fold in the vanilla extract and sour cream and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Put the tin in the middle of a baking tray (I use roasting pan) that has been filled 1/4 with hot water (make sure the water sits under the aluminium foil).

Bake the cheesecake for around an hour and a half or until it is set (insert a skewer and it should come out clean).

Carefully run a knife around the tin to loosen up the cheesecake, cover and rest in the fridge for a day.

Take it out of the tin, lightly dust with chocolate powder and garnish it with the fruit of your choice.

ENJOY! xx