Chocolate Cheesecake

My love for cheesecake started many years ago when I was working at Christopher's in Collingwood, Ontario. Christopher's was a beautiful old pink granite house with sort of a turret on the front and a wrap around veranda. Beautiful inside as well. It's now run as a Bed and Breakfast called Thurso House. I stayed there last year and had a great sleep and a wonderful breakfast. Anyway, cheesecake was always on the dessert menu and we used to make all kinds of flavours. I did this version for some friends last night and it turned out quite nicely.

Chocolate Marbled Cheesecake  

Crust:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

Cheesecake:

2 lbs cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs
1  cup chocolate

1. Combine melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar; press onto bottom of 10-inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the heat to 325F. Place an empty cake pan or baking sheet on the bottom rack and fill it with hot water. Place the other oven rack right above the pan with water. This helps create a moist cooking environment for the cheesecake.
2. Add the cream cheese, in pieces to a food processor, while its running, letting the chunks blend together. Add the sugar and vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Pour half of the batter into a bowl.
4. Melt the chocolate and add it to the cream cheese in the processor.
5. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the crust, alternating between the vanilla and chocolate mixtures. Swirl the mixture with a knife to ‘marble’ the mixture.
6. Bake at 325F. for 50-60 minutes or until set. Allow cheesecake to cool then remove from rim of pan. Chill overnight before serving.

Serving Size: 16 (at least)

The trick to making a nice cheesecake is to not overcook it. If you overcook it, it gets dry and crumbly. If you take it out when the center is just a little jiggly you should have a nice creamy cheesecake. After it cools, run a knife around the rim of the pan to loosen the cheesecake but leave the rim on and let it cool for a few hours on the counter. Cover it with plastic and refrigerate over night. If condensation forms on the cheesecake, just blot it up with paper towel. 

When you cut the cheesecake, warm a long serrated edge knife in hot water, then dry it. Press the knife into the cheesecake, then drag it through. Clean the gooey cheesecake off the knife, warm it, then cut it again. Cutting it this way prevents the excess cheesecake on the knife from ending up on top and making your cheesecake look messy.