Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake Recipe

I talked a little about comfort food yesterday. Today's recipe is both comfort food and indulgence rolled into one — a must for any chocaholic out there. A rich chocolate cheesecake topped with chocolate cream topping served on a chocolate wafer crumb base.

What could be more indulgent than that. Of course, this is great any time, but decorated with dried or stewed cranberries it makes a wonderful treat of a Christmas recipe. If you garnish with a sprig of mint, then it also makes a superb recipe for an Easter tea-time treat.

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

For the Base:

180g (1 1/2 cups) chocolate wafer crumbs
2 tbsp sugar
50g (4 tbsp) butter, melted

For the Filling:

4 tbsp dark chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp whipping cream
660g (24 oz) cream cheese, softened
200g (1 cup) sugar
40g (1/3 cup) baking powder
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Topping:

150g (1 1/2 cups) dark chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

For the base, combine the wafer crumbs and sugar in a small bowl. Stir in the butter, then press the mixture into the base and half-way up the sides of a greases 22cm diameter springform cake tin.

Transfer to the centre of an oven pre-heated to 170ºC and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool. In the meantime, reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC.

Melt the chocolate for the filling in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Take the pan off the heat then stir in the cream, beating to combine. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Sift over the cocoa powder and beat well to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until completely incorporated into the cream cheese mixture. Finally stir in the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate and cream mixture.

Pour the resultant filling over the crust then return to the oven and bake for between 45 and 50 minutes, or until the filling is cooked and its centre is almost completely set.

For the topping, melt the chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Take off the heat and stir in the cream and vanilla. Mix well to combine the spread this mixture over the filling. Allow to cool then transfer to the refrigerator and chill over night.

The following day, carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan. Remove the sides of the pan and transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate.

Just before serving, garnish with whipped cream and fresh fruit.