Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Holy Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake, Batman!

As promised in my post,  I Baked A Cake And Ate It, Too!, here's the recipe for that scrumpdelilicious cheesecake.  I've added some tips at the end but if you have any questions, please ask and I'll try to answer the best I can.

CHOCOLATE CAPPUCCINO CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:

For the crust:
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter - melted
2 tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the cake (two parts):
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
8 (1 oz) squares of semisweet baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tblsp whipping cream

1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup coffee liqueur (Kahlua or Tia Maria)
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tblsp icing/confectioners sugar
2 tblsp coffee liqueur
2 tblsp chocolate syrup

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter (or grease) one 9” springform pan.
  • Combine chocolate cookie crumbs, softened butter, sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and press into the buttered springform pan. (1)
  • In a medium sized bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the 1 cup of sugar, mixing until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat at low speed until very smooth. (2)
  • Melt the semisweet chocolate in a microwave (intervals of 30 seconds on high – stirring between cycles). Once melted and smooth, let cool before adding to main batter.
  • Stir melted chocolate and 2 tablespoons of whipping cream to cream cheese mixture and blend well. Stir in sour cream, salt, coffee, 1/3 cup coffee liqueur and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour mixture into pan. (3 & 4)
  • Bake in the centre of the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The centre will be soft but firm up when chilled. Leave cake in oven with the heat turned off and the door ajar for 45 minutes. Remove cake and chill in refrigerator. (5)

For the frosting:

Beat 1 cup of whipping cream until soft peaks form, then beat in the icing sugar, liqueur and syrup. Spread topping on chilled cake. (6)


Tips and Tweaks:

(1) Since I did not have the cookie crumbs and being my lazy-ass self, I used two pre-made, store bought chocolate crusts (Oreo), then crumbled them with some melted (or softened) butter to set the crumbs for the crust into the bottom of the pan. In hindsight, I might have used the butter-and-flour method (using the crumbs in place of the flour) to coat the sides of the pan as opposed to trying to press the crust up the sides of the pan. Or you could just dispense with a side crust altogether.

(2) I have a Kitchen Aid mixer with a large bowl and the attachments tend not to reach the shallowest parts of the bowl. While beating the cream cheese (regardless of your mixer), occasionally scrape the sides, but mostly the bottom and your mixing attachment(s) with a rubber spatula to make sure all the cheese becomes incorporated with the batter which should, hopefully, eliminate any tiny lumps of cheese (or if you really want to go the extra mile and you are a masochistic narcissistic baker, you could push the batter through a sieve to eliminate the bumps and zits). But it’s always a good idea to add the separate ingredients before turning the power back on to the mixer.

(3) You can use ground coffee instead of instant, just make it strong. And if you are really into espresso (or cappuccino), the stronger the better!

(4) Once all of the batter ingredients are well blended and just before you pour it into the crust, whip it – whip it good! (Sorry for that earworm.) This will help the mousse-like texture of the cake.

(5) To prevent cracks in the cake, place a shallow pan of water in the oven. This is not always successful in preventing cracks but they (the cracks) are easily covered up with topping. If you see a crack developing after 30 - 35 minutes of baking, turn off the oven, leave the door closed for about 10 to 20 minutes then leave the oven door ajar for about 45 minutes.

(6) If you are going to use the whipped cream topping, make sure the cream is very cold (but do not freeze it), and that the bowl is chilled before whipping. I set my bowl in an ice bath while whipping (and it does take some time to whip).  Else, you could use a cherry pie filling or other topping of your choice. I might try a meringue topping next time.

I really hope some of you try and enjoy this recipe.

The recipe for March is Creamy Zucchini Soup.  Stay tuned.

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27 comments:

  1. This sounds awesome. May have to have my wife make it for me.

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  2. Yummmmmmmmmmmm I'll have to try this one!

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  3. Cheeseboy: It's totally awesome. But, what? You can't cook??
    ;-)

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  4. Stehanie: Hi and thanks for dropping in!! Yes, this is a definite "must try" recipe. It may look daunting, but it really isn't. Enjoy!
    ;-)

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  5. You realize that if I bake this cake I shall have to eat it all by myself!

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  6. Boom Boom: If you do, might I suggest you hang on to that wheelchair for awhile?
    ;-)

    Speaking of dangerous - you may want to keep an eye on your blood sugar (oh, but what a way to go!).

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  7. Hey! You're giving away my super-secret-been-in-my-family-for-generations recipe?!?!?

    :-) So glad you enjoyed it.

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  8. Nicky: Well, at least I didn't include the typos.
    ;-)

    Loved it!!

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  9. Ohhhhhhh... Can we say sugar coma?

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  10. Ziva: More like chocolate coma! I think I'm going to up the liqueur and reduce the sugar the next time I make this (I'm not a sugar fan) and use half & half bitter and bittersweet chocolate - it'll give it an extra bite! Yeah, I'm masochistic that way. But, yum!
    ;-)

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  11. Sounds good. I'm with you. Some cheesecakes can be way too sweet.

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  12. Holy criminy. This looks like it would be wonderful!

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  13. That sure looks like a lot of work. Maybe I can just send you my address and you can bake me one and send it over, huh? Maybe?

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  14. Sue: I know the ingredients sound daunting, but it really isn't that hard. I would send you some yet I don't think it would survive the trip (let alone the mail carriers).
    ;-)

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  15. Please send me one as I am too lazy to make it.

    Thank you.

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  16. BonyMike: I would love to, but even if I did send you one and it survived the trip through snail mail, the workers at the postal service might think it's a cake make of C4 explosive, open it up, discover it's just a cheesecake and devour it. You'd probably then receive a card of notification (covered in chocolate) informing you that they suspected the package to be a bomb, but that it was 'da bomb'!
    ;-)

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  17. Reffie: Oh, I'm so sorry! I saw your comment, thought I replied but obviously didn't.

    Yep, I'm not a sweets fan but this recipe isn't overly sweet.

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  18. Phew! A fabulous recipe. That should keep me out of sweet trouble for an afternoon....!

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  19. This sounds wonderful. I can't wait to try it.

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  20. Lena: It's very rich - it might take you the entire day!
    ;-)

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  21. Jen: You'll love it! It's devine.

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  22. Oh, boy, you had me at the title. I'll definitely try this.

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  23. Patti: Ha! I think, "chocolate" in any title is going to get someone! I'm sure you will love it!
    ;-)

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  24. I am going to have ti find somebody who knows how to cook to make that for me!

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  25. tattytiara: Hi, and welcome! Even if you have a hand mixer, it's relatively easy to make - of course, I'm all for having someone else making it for me! Enjoy!
    ;-)

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