Easy Chocolate Cheesecake: Creamy Dream Come True

Easy Chocolate Cheesecake: Creamy Dream Come True…

Cheesecake is the world’s best-known cheesecake dessert, declined in a thousand variations depending on the season and imagination: starting from New York Cheesecake to strawberry cheesecake, passing through a pumpkin version, and ending with evergreens to be enjoyed all year round such as chocolate cheesecake! A dark version of the classic baked cheesecake, made with a cocoa cookie base and delicious ricotta cream, garnished with a cascade of dark chocolate curls–what more could you want? A dollop of whipped cream to go with it, for example! Gluttons the world over, this recipe is for you: with chocolate cheesecake in every bite, pleasure is assured.

Ingredients:

For the base (for a 9-inch/22 cm diameter tin):

• 250g (8.8 oz) chocolate digestive biscuits
• 100g (3.5 oz) butter

For the filling:

• 450g (16 oz) ricotta cheese
• 250g (8.8 oz) cream cheese
• 200g (7 oz) dark chocolate (55% cocoa)
• 120g (4.2 oz or 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) caster sugar / granulated sugar
• 110g (3.9 oz or 2 medium) eggs
• 50g (1.8 oz or 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) cornflour/ cornstarch
• 20g (0.7 oz or 1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

For decoration:

• Dark chocolate: as needed

How to make Chocolate Cheesecake:

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and let it cool.
2. Pour chocolate cookies into a blender and whisk to reduce them to a powder.
3. Transfer whipped cookies to a bowl and add the warmed melted butter.
4. Stir with a spoon until you get a smooth mixture.
5. Pour the mixture into a 22-cm-diameter opening-circle mold (buttered and lined with baking paper).
6. Compact the mixture with the back of a spoon on both the bottom and the edges.
7. Let the base firm up in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or in the freezer for at least 30 minutes).
8. Chop the dark chocolate with a knife.
9. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave, then let it cool.
10. Pour ricotta and spreadable cheese into a blender.
11. Add vanilla bean seeds and sugar to the blender.
12. Sift cornstarch with cocoa in a separate small bowl.
13. Add the sifted powders to the blender and mix everything together.
14. Add eggs and blend again.
15. Pour in the warmed melted chocolate and blend until the mixture is full-bodied and smooth.
16. Take the mold with the cookie base and pour the cream inside, then level the surface.
17. Bake in a preheated static oven at 165°C for 60 minutes, with a small saucepan of water in the oven.
18. Once baked, take it out of the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the mold.
19. Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
20. Create dark chocolate curls for decoration with a peeler and keep chilled until ready to use.
21. After firming time, remove the mold and garnish with chocolate curls.

Bon Appétit!