Amazing Fudge Truffle Cheesecake
Submitted by chuchulo
Fudge truffle cheesecake bakes a chocolate cookie crust under a dense cream cheese filling laced with 8 ounces of melted semi-sweet chocolate. Rich, fudgy, no flour, no fuss.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
65 minREADY
90 minThis is the cheesecake equivalent of a deep-cut chocolate truffle, with the same dense, fudgy texture and pure chocolate intensity. Eight ounces of melted semi-sweet chocolate folds into 1½ pounds of softened cream cheese for a filling that bakes into something halfway between cheesecake and chocolate pot de creme.
The chocolate cookie crumb crust is the right call here, since a graham cracker base would taste too neutral against this much chocolate filling. The crumb-to-butter ratio (1½ cups crumbs, 4 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons sugar) gives you a sturdy crust that holds up under the dense filling without crumbling when you slice.
The water bath note in the recipe is the technique worth following. A pan of water on the rack below the cheesecake keeps the oven humid and prevents the dramatic surface cracks that plague baked cheesecakes. Skip it and your beautiful cake develops crater-sized fissures as it cools.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing minimally after each. Overbeating once eggs are in incorporates air, which puffs up during baking and collapses on cooling, taking the surface with it.
The center should be almost set when you pull it from the oven. It firms up completely as it cools and chills.
Pro Tips
- Use room-temperature cream cheese; cold cream cheese leaves chunks that won’t smooth out during baking.
- Cool the melted chocolate to lukewarm before adding to the filling; hot chocolate cooks the eggs into chunks.
- Run a thin knife around the edge of the springform pan immediately after pulling from the oven; this prevents the cake from tearing as it contracts during cooling.
- Refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight; cheesecake flavor and texture both improve dramatically by the next day.
Variations
- Top with a layer of chocolate ganache once cooled for double the chocolate impact.
- Add 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the filling to deepen the chocolate flavor without making it taste like coffee.
- Garnish with fresh raspberries or a raspberry coulis for a sharp acidic contrast against the rich filling.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oven to 325℉ (160℃).
Line the bottom of your springform pan with waxed paper (or do whatever you normally do to keep it from sticking.)
For the crust, mix the crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl.
Press the mixture onto the bottom of your pan.
For the filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until blended.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition just until Stir in the chocolate. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until center is almost set. Note: Put a pan of water in the oven with the cheesecake -- helps keep the oven moist so the cheesecake is less likely to crack.
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