Because my mother-in-law was worried that making such a large cake for a smaller gathering would mean too much leftover cake (and really, who but the Golden Girls can eat that much cheesecake without gaining hundreds of pounds?), I made this for Jonathan's family's February/March birthday party. And it was a HUGE hit. It especially made me me exceedingly happy that Jonathan, who is extremely picky about sweets, especially chocolate ones, said that it was the best cheesecake he'd ever had. Score.
We did decide that the cocoa powder on top as a garnish was not a good choice. I ended up inhaling some of it and coughed my way through the first couple of bites of my slice, and most other people had some trouble wearing it. So no matter how nice it may make the cake look, don't bother with it.
There is a lot of scraping down the bowl in this recipe, but really, it's so worth it. It made the cheesecake light and almost mousse-like. I definitely made sure to beat the cream cheese really well before adding anything else, which I think helped too.
I will say that figuring out if this cake was done was difficult for me since I don't have that much experience with making cheesecakes. I followed the directions, but when I went to take the cake out of the oven, it just felt way too jiggly. I even went to test it with a knife, as you would with a regular cake, which is why you can see a big gash in the middle of my cake in the picture. Do not do this. From what I've read online, it is perfectly normal for the cake to jiggle a bit when it comes out of the oven. As long as the entire top moves as one unit and doesn't look too goopy, it's just fine. And don't stick anything into it, you'll ruin all the work you've done already to make sure that it doesn't crack.
Definitely definitely definitely make sure you make this a day or so ahead of time. The cooling process is important to making sure the cake is solid and the flavors are mixed properly. When it first came out and even before I put it in the fridge overnight, I smelled a lot of the Irish Cream. I was a little concerned that it would end up overwhelming all of the other flavors in the cake. But once it came out of the fridge and was ready to be served, the flavors had clearly blended a lot more.
Cappuccino Cheesecake
For crust:
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (you can get chocolate wafers and grind them up)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
For ganache:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups whipping cream, heated but not boiled
For filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup Irish Cream
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
2 eggs, at room temperature
Chocolate-covered espresso beans, semisweet chocolate chips and/or Hershey's Kisses, for garnish
To make crust: Mix together crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes. Once the crust is done, turn the oven down to 325ºF.
To make ganache: Warm whipping cream over low heat until heated but not boiling. Cover chopped semisweet chocolate with heated whipping cream, and let sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the mixture together until chocolate is completely melted and mixture becomes smooth. Set aside.
To make filling: Put softened cream cheese in mixer and beat until very creamy, scraping down the sides from time to time. Gradually add the sugar. Scrape down the sides. Add cornstarch. Mix together Irish Cream and espresso powder, and add to the mixer. Scrape down the sides.
Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each is incorporated well. Scrape down the sides. Add the ganache, and scrape down the sides one more time. The mixture will be very loose, so carefully pour it on top of the crust in the springform pan.
Bake for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave it in there for another 30 minutes. Make sure you do not open the oven during this time. After the hour has passed, let the cheesecake cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
Before serving, garnish as desired.
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