Chocolate Cheesecake
(As with the baked beans, the cheesecake isn't as complicated to make as it looks. I just wanted to be thorough.)
Tools:
A stand mixer makes this a whole lot easier.
When mixing the batter, do not put the mixer on 'whip'. Doing so will introduce too much air into the batter and cause the cake to deflate to sunken center as it cools.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Crust:
2 1/2 cups crushed graham crakers
1 stick melted butter
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Tbl cocoa
Combine the sugar and cocoa powder well. Once mixed, add the melted butter and mix.
Pat into the bottom of a parchment lined 10 inch springform pan.
Put pan onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, remove and allow to cool.
Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Batter:
4 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
4 Eggs
1 14oz can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 12oz package semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips, melted
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each.
Add Eagle Brand and beat until smooth.
Scrape the side and bottom of mixing bowl to make sure all of the cream cheese has been combined and that there are no lumps.
Add vanilla and mix well.
Melt choclate chips in a double boiler or microwave oven. If using microwave, be careful not to scorch chocolate.
With mixer running, slowly add melted chocolate to the batter, scraping the sides often.
Carefully pour batter into cooled pan on top of graham cracker crust.
Put cake into oven and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees.
Allow cake to bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour, check to see if the cake has started to pull away from the sides. If it has, or you see any cracking, its' done.
Turn the oven off and allow the cake to cool slowly in the oven. (Even over night is fine.)
Once cooled, refrigerate cake at least 3 hours.
When ready to serve, remove sides of pan and parchment liner.
Slide a spatula under the bottom parchment and gently remove the cake from the pan bottom and place on serving plate.
Cool to room temperature then chill. Remove side of pan and place on cake plate.
