Julia's Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

I'd never been in love with cheesecake (I only like cream cheese in moderation - I won't even put it on my bagels!), until one fateful trip to the Cheesecake Factory at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore when I was a teenager. I was with my family and before heading back to the hotel for the evening, we stopped in and grabbed some cheesecake to go. It was like an ice cream shop with a zillion different flavors - all of which sounded absolutely fabulous (well, everything except "plain cheesecake"). I ordered something chocolaty with Heath Bar topping.......and I was instantly in love.

Until then, I hadn't known that cheesecake wasn't "instant" (*cough cough* JELL-O brand No Bake), mixed up in 5 minutes and refrigerated. I obviously had a lot to learn.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law was having a birthday dinner and I asked what I could bring. She requested "something chocolaty" so I decided to attempt one of these crazy cheesecake things. And boy did it go over well!!! Since then, I've perfected the top layer (which was originally a too-thick ganache that we practically needed a blow torch to get through!), and so here is what I came up with:

Julia's Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients
For Crust:

• 1-1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (you can get Oreo crumbs in the baking aisle)
  
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted (I use Nature's Promise or Harris Teeter brand organic butter)

For Filling:

• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips NOTE: I like to use Godiva or Ghiardelli chocolate - it really makes a difference.
  
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I use Organic Valley brand)
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. To Make Crust: In a small bowl, mix together chocolate cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom and 1-1/2 inch up the sides of the prepared springform pan.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
4. To Make Filling: In a small saucepan, heat cream and chocolate chips, stirring constantly, until chips are melted. Remove from heat.
   
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar until smooth (I'm loving the Kitchen Aid stand mixer!).
   
6. Add cocoa and beat well. Add eggs and beat on low until just blended. Stir in vanilla and reserved chocolate mixture until blended.
   
7. Pour over crust.
   
   
8. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set (but still a little jiggly). Unfortunately I can't always avoid getting cheesecake cracks :( My only "perfect" one was the first one!
   
   

Ganache topping

Ingredients

• 1 cup chocolate of choice (I use dark, >60% cocoa. Again, get the good stuff)
  
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Decorative topping of choice (I used swirled chocolate chips this time; I've used chocolate shavings and strawberries in the past)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat whipping cream until just before boiling.
2. Stir constantly and be careful not to boil over.
3. Pour chocolate chips in the hot cream and stir with a spoon until smooth.
4. Spread over baked cheesecake and refrigerate overnight (or until ganache has hardened).
   BEFORE
   DURING
   
   AFTER
   
   

TIP: If using a decorative topping that needs to be pressed into the ganache (like the chocolate chips I used here), let ganache chill in fridge for an hour or two, until it starts to get firm. Then pull it out to decorate and return to fridge for remainder of chilling time.

I made this cheesecake in Feb 09 and topped it with chocolate sprinkles. I applied the ganache differently this time...first I chilled the cake w/out any topping. The next day I prepared the ganache and poured it over the cake *after* removing the springform pan sides. I allowed the ganache to drizzle down the sides and let it chill in the freezer for about 2 hours (then added the sprinkles and let it chill another hour or so in the freezer to get the ganache nice and firm).