bake this: chocolate caramel cheesecake

At this very moment, I am completely in my element. The dark, overcast day has a cast an actinic glow, and the whole of my apartment is fragrant with luscious chocolate and glistening caramel. Candles illuminate the rooms. I’m making epic preparations for a holiday dinner I’m hosting tomorrow, and when it comes to desserts I accept nothing less than extraordinary. From a sticky, luminous confection to bittersweet chocolate to a creamy cheese cake filling, I was instantly intrigued by the Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake. And with a foundation of graveled chocolate cookies – how could I resist the challenge?

Although I scored this recipe from one of my cooking inspirations, Smitten Kitchen, I made some tweaks to the original.

INGREDIENTS: Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com
For the Cheesecake
1 crumb crust (recipe below)
1 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (reserve a small portion for garnish)
1/2 cup sour cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Make crumb crust as directed in separate recipe, using chocolate wafer cookies instead of graham crackers.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook sugar in a dry heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork, until melted and pale golden. Cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Remove from heat and carefully add heavy cream (mixture will vigorously steam and caramel will harden). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. I’ll be honest, this was probably the most difficult part of the recipe. A clump of caramel hardened on my fork as I was stirring, and I kept at it, vigorously, so that the texture was smooth.

Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until smooth. Stir in sour cream.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy (2-3 minutes), then beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 55 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Doing so will aid in cracking your cheesecake.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.) Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving. Add shaved chocolate as garnish.

Recipe Notes: It is incredibly important that you not use chocolate morsels or chips for this recipe. They have a lower burning temperature, which will ultimately yield more of a bitter, acidic flavor. I like whole bar chocolate (bought by the pound) as it delivers a depth of flavor. Please ensure that all ingredients are at room temperature – this will ensure they will bake evenly once in the oven. AND BY GOD, DO NOT USE SKIM MILK. Don’t even SPEAK to me if you used skim milk. REALLY.

For the Crumb Crust: Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine
1 1/2 cups (5 ounces) finely ground chocolate cookies, such as chocolate wafers
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Recipe Notes: I used Newman’s Chocolate Alphabet Cookies. Instead of dealing with a food processor, I added the cookies to a Ziploc bag and smashed them with a rolling pin – a delightful way to release holiday tension!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm and is filed under foodie gal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.