chocolate + chocolate

Grace and peace on your Friday Dear Hearts

I hope your Valentine’s day was a delightful as mine. We enjoyed a quiet, rainy day at home, watched an amazing presentation on healing by Dr. Barry Bennett, and then Mr. L prepared a meal for us that can only be described as fit for royalty! There was lobster, rice pilaf, a green salad and:

As I promised you before, if this new cheesecake recipe turned out yummy I’d share it. It’s amazing! So…Here it is:

Ingredients
 For the crust:
 15 (225 grams) full size chocolate graham crackers
 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon Medaglia Doro Instant Espresso Coffee

 For the filling:
 8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
 24 ounces (680 grams) full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
 1/4 cup heavy cream
 1/4 cup (21 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
 4 large eggs, at room temperature

 For the topping:
 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions
For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In the bowl of a food processor, process the cookies until you have 1 cup finely ground crumbs. Add the sugar. Stir the espresso power into the melted butter and pour over the sugar/crumb mixture and pulse until moistened. Press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Let cool slightly and maintain oven temperature while making the filling.

For the filling:
In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chopped chocolate in 30-second bursts, stirring between bursts, until melted and smooth. Let cool.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar, cream, and cocoa powder and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all cream cheese is being incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until smooth. Beat in the melted chocolate until just combined. Be careful not to overbeat.
Pour the batter into the cooled crust. Place spring-form pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top looks slightly dry. If the middle is slightly wobbly, that’s fine. Err on the side of under-baking. Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open and allow to cool for 10 minutes (this helps prevent cracking). Remove the cheesecake from the oven to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 4 hours. Release the cheesecake from the pan onto a cake stand or serving plate.

For the topping:
Place the chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips. Microwave on medium until the cream is warm about a minute or a bit less. Stir until the mixture is melted, shiny and smooth. If needed, allow to cool and thicken. Pour over the cheesecake.