Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
by Mallory • December 27, 2011 • Cake, Dessert, Holiday • 4 Comments
Hi everybody! How was your holiday? We had a wonderful few days at my family’s house, celebrating Christmas and being together again, even for a short time. And oh man, did we eat well!
My dad made an insanely delicious Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Loin with Roasted Apples for supper. OMG- the crispiness of the salty prosciutto, the delicious stuffing of mushrooms and apples, the perfectly roasted pork loin, and the tart, creamy roasted apples… it was a perfect combination and a meal I won’t be forgetting soon.
For Christmas this year, I made everyone in my family a (very) limited edition cookbook of 26 of my favorite recipes featured on this blog this year. It was a lot of work but I think everyone was really happy with it, and it was so cool to see my work in print!
And one of my favorite gifts this year came from my uncle, who was visiting for Christmas for the first time in about 12 years. He gave me such a thoughtful and personal gift- a monogrammed chef’s hat and apron, made especially for me! 
I wanted to share this recipe for a dark chocolate cheesecake that I made for my family. I got the recipe from Epicurious. I made a few tweaks, including using Grasshopper cookies (commercially available Thin Mints) for the crust. I really loved the way this came out- but warning, it is NOT for the faint of chocolate heart!
- Crust:
- 24 chocolate wafer cookies (I used Keebler Grasshoppers for a fun hint of mint)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
- Filling:
- 10 oz good, bittersweet chocolate
- 4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 large eggs
- Topping:
- ¾ cup whipping cream
- 6 ounces Scharffen Berger 70% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate,* chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Bittersweet chocolate curls (optional)
- For crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides.Blend cookies in processor until finely ground; blend in sugar. Add melted butter and process until well blended. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake just until set, about 5 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.
- For filling: Stir chopped chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable. Blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder in processor until smooth. Blend in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. Pour filling over crust; smooth top. Bake until center is just set and just appears dry, about 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of cake to loosen. Chill overnight.
- For topping: Stir cream, 6 ounces chocolate, and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over center of cheesecake, spreading to within ½ inch of edge and filling any cracks. Chill until topping is set, about 1 hour. Do ahead: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with foil and keep refrigerated.
- Release pan sides. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Top with chocolate curls. Let stand 2 hours at room temperature before serving.
Please feel free to check out more of my family’s holiday pictures on Flickr!
Happy holidays and Happy New Year from my family to yours!
Happy Eating
mally
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Ahhh you are making me want to come over to the dark side (by that I mean cheesecake eaters)
OMG I want to do bad things to this cake.. too bad I’ll probably never make it – my baking skillz are getting better but this looks advanced for me!!
oh K you can definitely make this! honestly the hardest part was waiting for it to bake then refrigerate so I could stuff my face with it….
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