source: Woman’s Worl Magazine 11/3/14
What is cheesecake?
Cheesecake is a sweet dessert made with soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark, or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked and is usually refrigerated.
Cheesecake flavors…
Vanilla, spices, lemon, chocolate, pumpkin, or other flavors may be added to the main cheese layer. Additional flavors and visual appeal may be added by topping the finished dessert with fruit, whipped cream, nuts, cookies, fruit sauce, chocolate syrup, or other ingredients.
Ingredients
40 chocolate wafer cookies, ground
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 packages (8 ounces each) of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons Kirsch or cherry brandy
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
hot water
1 can (21-ounce) cherry pie filling
Directions
To make this black forest cheesecake, start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Wrap outside, including the bottom, of an 8″ springform pan with a double layer of foil. Mix cookies with butter and salt. Press into the bottom and 1″ upside of the pan. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
On medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth. On low, beat in sugar; beat for 2 minutes. beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add cream, 3 tablespoons Kirsch, and vanilla; on medium, beat until smooth. Transfer 1 and 1/2 cups batter to separate bowl; stir in chocolate. Pour 1 and 1/2 cups of plain batter into the pan; spoon chocolate batter over in an even layer to cover completely. Top with remaining plain batter.
Finishing up the cheesecake
Place springform pan in large roasting pan; place in oven. Fill the roasting pan with hot water halfway upside of the springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until the center jiggles slightly when shaken. Turn off the oven; let the cheesecake stand in the oven with the door closed for 30 minutes. Remove pan from water; remove foil. Cool on a rack for 2 hours; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Run a small knife around the cake edge to loosen it; remove the side from the pan. Transfer to a serving plate. Stir remaining Kirsch into pie filling; spoon over cheesecake. Enjoy!
also, try: Caramel Pecan Cheesecake
