2.15.2013

Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake






I love cheesecake. Seriously, who doesn't? I don't think I could be friends with someone who could not appreciate the amazingness of cheesecake. (OK. If you don't like cheesecake, I will still  be your friend, but I think that your taste-buds may be broken...just saying!)

I don't know about your house, but in my house, our TV only has like 3 channels... HGTV,  Discovery Channel, and The Food Network. My husband hates HGTV. I hate the Discovery Channel. So if we are both in the room, the Food Network is on by default. I admit it... I've got a girl crush on Giada. Anyway, to make a long story short, whenever cheesecake is discussed, my husband always says that the best cheesecake ever is from Junior's Cheesecakes in New York. Mind you, he has never had this cheesecake, somebody on Food Network said it was the best... and so it must be!  I did some research and actually quite a few somebodies said this. Junior's cheesecakes were featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Throw down with Bobby Flay, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and Food Feuds 

Now you know if you've ever been particularly close to someone, sometimes they say things that drive you batty... this cheesecake thing is one of those things. He has never had that cheesecake so how could it be the best?! For Valentine's Day this year I decided I was going to him a cheesecake from Junior's since they ship... until I looked at the price! Yup... with shipping that was some expensive cheesecake! Maybe the next time I am in New York I will make sure we get some, but having it shipped to the land of the cheeseheads was not happening. Eventually I decided to make him a cheesecake instead (the fact that I was now needing cheesecake to survive had absolutely nothing to do with this decision). All I have to say is that the next time someone talks about cheesecake with him he better go on and on about how delicious my cheesecake is!

If you made it this far, you deserve the recipe!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup of butter (melted)
2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder
3 (8oz) pkg of cream cheese (softened)
1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1 (2 oz) pkg of semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

** you also will need a 9 inch spring-form pan for this cheesecake!

Start with the crust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and cocoa powder until it is damp and clumpy throughout. I just did all of this right in my food processor. Then dump your crust mixture into the bottom of an ungreased spring-form pan and press along the bottom of pan to create an even crust. I always put my crusts in the fridge while I make the rest of the cheesecake. don't know that this actually does anything, but it makes me feel good, so go ahead and do that.

While your crust is chilling, you can make the actual cheesecake mixture. Start by beating the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Then slowly add the sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth. Finally, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Remove your crust from the fridge and place the pan on a cookie sheet. Pour cheesecake filling over the top of the crust. The cookie sheet is another thing that may not be necessary, but those spring-form pans... I just can't completely trust them. I just don't understand how they don't leak!

Bake this in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for approximately 1 hr and 10 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is set. Serve the cheesecake chilled (or if you are impatient like me, eat it warm.. its not that bad. I mean, it's better cold but like I said, I COULD NOT WAIT!)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ohhh...that looks delicious! I've never tried making cheesecake but this looks like a great place to start! Thanks for sharing at The Gunny Sack!