Fun Bakery - Ultimate Chocolate Cheese Cake

I baked this cake for my beloved friend DL.

DL’d requested a chocolate cheese cake from me as his bday cake long ago. So when I saw this recipe on a magazine cover in Seattle, I knew this is the one!!

I also decided to rehearse once before his bday party to make sure the cake would become a real nice one. After the first trail, I noticed few tricky things, thus I modified the recipe a little.

The cake turned out a very successful one and it’s being said to be the best cake I ever baked haha.

The recipe looks a bit complicated however it’s kinda easy, it took me only about an hour to prepare. I also think that the cake can be considered as a valentine’s treat, if you want to surprise your another half, BAKE IT!

BTW, one of my ultimate goal for 2010 is to bake more! More means.. once a month!

Ingredient :

For crust
- 2 1/2 cups chocolate baking crumbs (I used Oreo base)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (I slightly reduced a little)
- 1/2 cup (around half stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling
- 225g semi-sweet chocolate
- 4 blocks of cream cheese, each 250g, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup regular sour cream (I used 2/3 cup as I want the filling to be more moist)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs, room temperature

For glaze
- 112g semi-sweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 2 tbsp honey (I used maple syrup)

Direction :

1. For crust, butter or oil side of a 9” springform pan. Wrap pan with foil, over bottom and sides, making sure it comes to the top edge so water from the water bath in step 3 wont leak in. Double wrap if necessary. In a large bowl, using a fork, stir chocolate baking crumbs with sugar, the stir in butter. Press mixture (I used my hands) onto the bottom of pan. Fridge while preparing cheesecake filling.

2. Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Put a kettle of water on. Finely chop chocolate and place in microwave-safe bowl. Heat on medium power for 2 min or until almost melted, stirring halfway through. Remove from microwave and stir until completely melted. Set aside. Place cream cheese in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until smooth, scraping down sides occasionally. Beat in sour cream, sugar, flour and vanilla extract. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Beat in cooled chocolate. Pour onto chilled crust.

3. Place wrapped springform pan in a boiler pan or shallow-side roasting pan. Place in center of preheated oven. Pour enough boiling water into the boiler pan (I poured around half full) to come about 1” up side of foil-wrapped springform pan.

4. Bake until filling is almost set when springform pan is jiggled, about 40 min (this is essential, I baked a bit too long for the first trail, when it is jiggled, it’s done). Remove boiler pan to a rack. Run a knife around inside of cake pan to help prevent cracking. Let stand until water cools, about 30min.Remove pan from water. Discard foil. Cool completely, then cover pan with plastic wrap. Fridge until chilled, 4 hours (I fridged 2.5 hours so the cake is more moist). Remove cake from pan.

5. For glaze, finely chop chocolate and place in a medium bowl. Bring cram just to a boil, I n saucepan on the stovetop or in a bowl in the microwave. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Add syrup. Stir just until chocolate is melted and evenly mixed. Just before serving, pour and spread glaze over cake. Top with assorted berries and chocolate curls.

the CEO of Fun Bakery
oreo base + butter + sugar
add sugar to the cream cheese
the mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, flour and vanilla extract
stirred in the melted chocolate into the mixture
the crust after chilled
ready for being baked
it's jig.. jig.. jig.. jiggling
DONE!! (I think using raspberry to granish the cake should be better then blackberry but a tiny box of raspberry costs $50 at Welcome, geez)