Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the Oreo crust, you'll need:

about 24 Oreo cookies, fillings discarded [meaning approximately 48 individual wafer discs]

4 tbsp butter, melted

For the filling, you'll need:

3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

3 eggs

8 oz [about 1 cup] sour cream

1 tbsp vanilla

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

4 oz white chocolat

4 oz dark [60%] chocolate

For the chocolate ganache, you'll need:

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Use a food processor to grind Oreo cookies into fine crumbs. Pour melted butter into crumbs and mix with a fork. Pour crumbs onto the bottom of the pan. Use your fingers to spread the crust evenly across the pan. Set aside.

To prepare filling, beat cream cheese on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch and blend. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until well-blended. Set aside.

Separately, melt chocolates and pour into three large bowls. Divide filling evenly among the three bowls. Stir filling into the melted chocolate mixture until uniform. Pour dark chocolate filling over the Oreo crust. Use a spatula to even it out. Gently pour the white chocolate filling over the dark chocolate and spread evenly. Repeat with the bittersweet chocolate.

Bake cheesecake for 50-60 minutes, until center has set. Check doneness by poking center with a toothpick. Let cool completely, until cake is at room temperature. Cover the top of the cake [which should still be in the pan] with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before removing cake from the pan. Decorate as desired, or serve as is.

If desired, drizzle chocolate sauce over top of the cheesecake. To prepare sauce, melt chocolate with heavy cream and corn syrup. Stir until well combined. Let cool slightly, 4-5 minutes, before using on cheesecake. Drizzle right before serving.  

Okay, so, I have some confessions to make regarding this recipe. First of all, the recipe I used was to make triple chocolate cheesecake bars. Meaning, it was to be baked in an 8-inch square pan. But, I could not locate our square pan, so I went with the 9-inch springform and decided to just make a cake. However, if you prefer, you can absolutely turn this into a bar dessert recipe; just bake it in an 8-inch square pan and cut it into rectangles once it has set.

Secondly, when I poured the bittersweet chocolate batter on top of the white chocolate batter, it basically sank into the white chocolate filling. Did not make for three distinct layers. Initially, I was distraught. Really distraught. Then I realized I had some white chocolate batter left in the bowl, so I just did a white chocolate swirl on top. Perfect. The initial intent was completely masked by the epic fail that was the bittersweet chocolate sinking into the white chocolate, but whatever. It turned out alright.

Thirdly, I did not use a water bath. Now, you should always use a water bath when baking a cheesecake, as this prevents cracks from forming. [The way to go about baking cheesecake in a water bath is using a pan that is large enough for the springform to fit inside, filling it halfway (in regards to halfway up the sides of the springform pan) with warm water, and baking it in that. This makes sure the cheesecake bakes evenly throughout, and greatly decreases the likelihood of cracks forming.] Anyway, the reason I didn't use the waterbath was because I had already decided I was going to do chocolate sauce and crushed walnuts on top. [Also, I'm really lazy.]

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