February 25, 2007

Tutorial: Brownie Cheesecake

This is the must have birthday dessert in our home and since my hubby is the birthday boy this week, I had to make this cake today. This recipe is from Rosie's All-Butter Fresh Cream Sugar-Packed Baking Book by Judy Rosenberg. What more can I say?? I've altered it a tad. Let's say I CASEd it! Before you start, take 16 ounces (2 regular packages) of cream cheese and 4 large eggs and let them sit on the counter until they get to room temperature. Set the oven for 350 degrees. Ingredients for crust: Crust: You can make a typical graham cracker crust or use this recipe, which offsets the deep chocolate nicely: 30 crushed vanilla wafers (I throw them in the food processor) 1 cup chopped nuts (I throw whatever I have in the food processor, but pecans are best) 6 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter (salted will be fine, but not as upscale!) Mix and press the above ingredients in a 9" springform pan, making sure that the bottom is covered and any extra goes up the sides. This will not form a crust to the top. This is ok, in fact, I've made this without a crust and it came out fine. Wrap the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool a bit. Lower the oven to 300 degrees. Fill a 9 x 13 pan with water and put that pan on the bottom shelf. Ingredients for Brownie Cheesecake 2 packages (8 ounce each) creamcheese 1 cup sugar (you can substitute Splenda for all or part of the sugar and most folks can't tell the difference) 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 12 ounces chocolate chips -- the darker the better. I just found bittersweet chips, but semisweet will do. 1/2 boiling water with a tablespoon of instant coffee mixed in Put the chocolate chips and the coffee on the top of a double boiler. Do not let the water in the bottom of the double boiler boil or the chocolate will "seize" (turn into a hard hunk) -- just get it warm enough to melt the chips. Stir until smooth, remove from double boiler and set aside. Add the salt and vanilla. Mix again. Add the chocolate/coffee mixture and blend until dark and creamy. Put the mixture in the springform pan and bake for 85 minutes. Lick the bowl before cleaning up your mess! (Actually, since the batter contains raw eggs, this probably is not a good idea, but ....) After the cake is done, remove from oven (duh) and cool before putting in refrigerator. Eat this before your kids do! This is intense chocolate and at this point a dollop of whipped cream is not going to kill you any faster than the cake will, and adds to the pleasure of this cheesecake!

16 comments:

  1. OMG this sounds scrumptous! Great directions! Oh, I am assuming that the boiling water w/coffee amount is 1/2 CUP? Now I'm off to see if I saved that springform pan that I had never used but HAD to have! LOL!

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  2. OHHHHHHHHHHHHh, I can't look ( at the cheesecake):0
    well, maybe just one little peek :)
    Vanessa

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  3. Yes, take 1/2 cup of boiling water and stir in the coffee, then add to the chips!

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  4. Oh, woo whooooo!
    I actually wanted to comment on the neurosis post to ask about this recipe. LOL

    I love your honesty in everything I've read and seen from you. Keep true to yourself. Sometimes, we wear so many hats at our age, when one weighs a little too heavily, it tilts our focus on what's really our bliss! I may not be making any sense to anyone - but that's how I feel when I've followed your blog.

    Love from Hawaii...keep warm and fuzzy inside out,
    Lynn

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  5. Ohhhhhhhh, my goodness, This sounds and looks sooooooo delicious. I must have smellorama on my computer because I swear I can smell it, LOL. I'm not able to bake or cook because of pain, but someone IS going to make this cake for me even if I have to pay them, LOL. I can't wait to taste it...I'm salivating. TFS, TFS, TFS.

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  6. Thanks for this recipe and step by step photos!

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  7. And you can cook? Wow, it look scrumptious! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. This sounds WONDERFUL! I'm on WW and as I'm reading this I'm altering it so I can eat it. I it's do-able. Thank you very much for sharing!! My husband and I are both chocoholics.

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  9. This sounds YUMMY!!!!!!! I will definately give this cheesecake a try. One of my trademarks at work is to make a cheesecake for graduation, so it will be great to have a new recipe. Thanks Joan!

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  10. Wow Joan... that looks so good but just might clog my arteries lol. Don't suppose there's any way to 'lighten' it up?! Probably not!h eheh

    TFS bobbie Ü

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  11. Only thing left to do is run a sheet of vellum or baking parchment through the bug with a2 plate, cut into a circle, and lay on top for decoration. Only kidding. Your cake just needs a knife, fork, and plate.

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  12. Yummie! Can I come over and have some?

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  13. Geez Joan,
    I just gain 10 pounds reading the ingreadients! Yummy, Yummy I am going to have to make this one. Even the crust is extra special.
    Thank you for sharing!!
    Shelley

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  14. Sounds positively sinful...Yum!

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  15. Can you omit the nuts from the crust? Would you just have to add more wafers? I am not a great cook - obviously - so any pointers would be great. Thanks for the pictures. It may give me enough nerve to try making this one day!

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  16. Well...since I grew up in Wisconsin, most of my recipes start with "Take a stick of butter..." This one sure sounds delish! Gotta share it with my dsis, the cheesecake queen!

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