The impressive recipe’s two cheesecake layers, mirror-like frosting, and crispy chocolate crust will dazzle Christmas visitors. Pro tip: Avoid overmixing the batter, especially after adding the eggs, for the creamiest cheesecake. If the eggs are overbeaten, the cheesecake may souffle, crumble, or crack. Use seasonal fruit as garnish, such as sugared strawberries and cranberries.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 11 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 13 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 9-inch cheesecake |
Ingredients
- 3 cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies
- ½ cup salted butter, melted
- 3 pinches granulated sugar
- Cooking spray
- 5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces Ghirardelli® 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua®)
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 6 ounces Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
- Seasonal fruit for garnish, such as sugared cranberries, pomegranate seeds, and mint sprigs
Instructions
- Prepare the Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a medium bowl until well blended. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.
- Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes. Cool crust completely in pan on a wire rack, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Prepare the Cheesecake: Beat cream cheese with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and flour, beating until smooth. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed just until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- Divide batter into 2 equal portions in separate medium bowls. Pour 1 portion into prepared crust; spread evenly.
- Place Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on medium (50% power) until melted and smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
- Stir together coffee liqueur and espresso granules in a small bowl until espresso dissolves; stir mixture into remaining bowl of cheesecake batter. Stir melted bittersweet chocolate into coffee batter until blended.
- Gently pour over plain cheesecake batter in prepared crust, and spread evenly. Pan will be very full. Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake at 325 degrees F until center is almost set but center still jiggles slightly when pan is prodded, 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and chill 8 to 12 hours. Gently run a knife or offset spatula around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. Remove sides of pan.
- Prepare the Topping: About 1 hour before serving, bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium. Place Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips in a small heatproof bowl; pour cream-syrup mixture over chocolate chips. Let stand 1 minute. Whisk gently until smooth. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
- Pour chocolate mixture over top of cheesecake, and gently spread to edge of crust. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Garnish if desired.
- This method produces slightly uneven layers. If cleaner, more even layers are desired, freeze the plain layer for 2 hours; then top with chocolate layer and bake as directed.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 640 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 53 g |
| Cholesterol | 192 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 27 g |
| Sodium | 398 mg |
| Sugars | 38 g |
| Fat | 45 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Followed recipe exact, this cheesecake is the best I’ve ever had, a show stopper.
Good cheesecake, but it made TOO MUCH batter much for my 9-inch springform pan. Ended up putting the extra batter and crumbs in a small loaf pan so as not to waste any of the batter. Next time, I’ll only use 4 bricks of cream cheese and reduce the sugar a bit.
I would half the recipe as there is no need for cheesecake to be so thick. It was way too sweet as is so having a thinner slice would have been better.
It came out perfect!!! . I baked it for a contest we had at our church and won first prize!! Unfortunately, it was gone before I had a chance to get a photo of it. Thank y’all for the recipes. I will definitely let everyone know about your website.
this recipe makes a delicious cake! The only problem is that the cake needs at least double the cook time.
It is very good but the ganache is too thick . Could use 1/2 the amount of ganache.
I used sugar wafers (and kept the cream inside) instead of cookie wafers so my crust was a little bit airy but this cheesecake was a huge hit at Thanksgiving! Everyone loved it! It is very decadent and delicious!