Hello. It’s been a minute! I have to admit, days are kind of flying by. With both of my boys now homeschooling, I don’t even blink and it’s already bedtime. I’m glad to be busy though, gives me less time to think about everything that’s making me anxious. And I am anxious. I think most of us are. With me it kind of makes me freeze unfortunately. I’ve been cooking less lately for joy and relaxation and more to just feed my family. I haven’t been shooting much at all, I will try this weekend. But I truly believe that we all need to give ourselves a bit of a break and just do what we can and do our best.
I kind of prioritize my fears and #1 still are the earthquakes that happened here in my area. All of the aftershocks are just making me so jumpy and for the life of me I cannot relax. I am looking at people finally taking naps, or binging Netflix, taking a long bath, we have time for it now. But I just can’t. I sit at a ready, prepared as I can be, in case the next one that hits is a big one. I know this will pass but now I also see it’s going to take a while. Until then, I will cook to feed my family. I assume eventually I will start cooking and baking again just because. I miss that.
I did want to share this chocolate cheesecake with you today, I made it last month but it deserves a share. My husbands favorite desert are cheesecakes and I love a good chocolate cheesecake too. I haven’t baked many before so I kept this pretty simple, but it turned out yummy and chocolatey.
Chocolate Cheesecake
For the Crust:
24 Oreo cookies, cream center removed
6 Tbsp melted butter
For the Cheesecake:
24 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp vanila extract
generous pinch of salt
For the Ganache:
200 g good quality dark chocolate
100 ml heavy cream
Pulse the Oreo cookies in a food processor for a few seconds and then add the melted butter. Pulse a few more times then transfer to a springform pan and press it in the bottom evenly and firmly.
Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes then let it cool.
Mix the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer until combined. Add in the sour cream, vanilla extract and pinch of salt and mix. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.
Bring heavy cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate chips and let sit for a minute or two then mix well. If needed, put into microwave for 30 more seconds to finish melting the chocolate. While cheesecake batter is still mixing, slowly pour this chocolate in and continue mixing until well combined.
Pour over the cookie crust. Prepare the oven by adjusting the rack to middle and putting one rack lower underneath. I put a large casserole dish on the lower rack and then pour several cups of boiling water in and put the springform pan with the cheesecake batter above it on the middle rack. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes then lower the temperature to 325F and bake for about another hour. At this time turn off the oven, crack the door open and forget about it for 4-5 hours!
Now prepare the Ganache. Bring the heavy cream to boil and then pour over the chocolate. Like when you were preparing the cheesecake batter, let it sit for a few minutes before mixing well. If needed, microwave in 30 second intervals until everything is perfectly smooth. Cool slightly before pouring over the cheesecake.
After this I recommend you refrigerate the cheesecake overnight before serving or for at least 4 hours.
I love serving this cheesecake with fresh, lightly sweetened whipped cream. Enjoy!
