Epic Cheesecake

The cheesecake was delicious!  Peter said it was "epic".  Everyone else said it was delicious - even my mom who doesn't even like cheesecake.  So I guess it's good enough to share!

I got the recipe from Cooking Club of America.

Here it is.  I've added some notes in red to make a few parts a little clearer.

Brownie Chunk Cheesecake

CRUST
31 creme-filled chocolate cookies, crushed
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

FILLING
3 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped brownies (I used pre-made brownies from Walmart and they worked great.  I used the small round ones and quartered them.  Next time I would probably only halve them to make the chunks bigger in the cake.)

TOPPING
8 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 oz. white chocolate, melted

1. Heat oven to 325ºF. In medium bowl, stir together all crust ingredients. Press into bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Wrap pan with heavy-duty foil; freeze 30 minutes. (By "wrap pan with foil", they mean wrap the bottom of the pan and up the sides.  The pan is going to be submerged in a water bath and this step is to keep any water from seeping in.  I didn't realize that until the end.  I thought they meant cover the top of the pan while it's in the freezer.  Luckily I have a very good pan and no water got in.)

2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla at medium speed until blended. Beat in sour cream and 1 cup cream. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. Slowly beat in flour. Fold in brownies.

3. Place springform pan in large baking or broiler pan. Pour batter into crust (batter will come to within 1/4 inch of top edge). Add enough hot tap water to baking pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until edges are puffed and top is dry to the touch. Center should move slightly when pan is tapped but should not ripple as if liquid. (1 hour and 15 minutes was all I needed.)

4. Remove springform pan from baking pan; remove foil. Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate overnight.

5. Melt milk chocolate and 1/3 cup cream in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Pour over top of cheesecake; let stand 10 minutes.

6. Pour white chocolate into small resealable plastic bag; snip off corner of bag. Drizzle chocolate over cheesecake. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Refrigerate leftovers.  (I melted the white chocolate in the microwave and poured it into a baggie.  I did this right out of the microwave and it was hot!  So hot that I could barely handle the bag and the bag started to melt.  This is why the top of my cake is not quite as attractive as the one in the picture with the original recipe. Next time I will wait a little longer...either that or borrow my mom's Wilton decorating bag!)

12 servings

This cake was delicious!  Just remember it has to be refrigerated overnight so don't think you are going to make this and eat it in the same day.