Michael Isam's Chocolate Cheesecake
- Chocolate Crumb Crust
- 1 1/3 cups Pepperidge Farm Chocolate-Chocolate chip cookies
- 1 Tbs. sugar
- 4 Tbs. unsalted butter - room temperature
- Cheescake
- 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) semisweet chocolate pieces
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
- 1 pound cream cheese, softened and cut into pieces
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 Tsp. salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- Topping
- sour cream or crème fraîche (optional)
Crust:
Combine cookies, sugar and butter in Cuisinart until paste-like. Put mixture in an even layer over bottom of 9 inch springform pan.
Cheese cake:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Heat chocolate pieces, butter and Irish Cream in microwave until butter has melted and chocolate is soft. (30-45 seconds is usually long enough) Set aside and cool slightly.
Put in Cuisinart with steel blades and add softened cream cheese, eggs, sugar, salt and sour cream. Turn it on high and leave it until the ingredients are fully mixed. This puts lots of air in the cheesecake and it looks like a mousse. (but trust me, it isn't).
Pour into springform pan, then bake for 40 minutes or until the filling is just barely set in the center.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least one hour. Store in refrigerator.
Bon appétit!
