Irresistible Chocolate Cheesecake !!

Every month on the 15^th the baking partners post a bake.  The brainchild of Swati Iyer  and an excellent baker she chooses some fantastic bakes.

Since joining this group I have tried out  Shaped Bread Rolls, Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake , Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies, The best Chocolate cake that I have ever tasted Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat: Chocolate Almond Cake  and now this month cheese cake.

Now every recipe I have read asks for cream cheese and since it is expensive in India and then there is no guarantee that I will use the entire tub I never ventured in the area. My daughter, the elder one this time (rolling my eyes) asked for cheese cake sometime ago. She is a sweet non-eater; even after she ate this cake she told me she liked the crust better than the cake. Mind you this was after they (both my daughters) had finished the cake.

Well it takes all kinds … anyway please do try this awesome cake and sink in a delightful bliss!!  Diet ko maro goli yaar you do need a break!!

Chocolate Cheesecake in full glory!

This is one of the Tarla Dalal recipes that I had bookmarked quite some time ago. So ladies let’s get down to making cheese cake. I have tried nothing different from what the original recipe said maybe except for making of the cream cheese. One tip from Tarla Dalal’s is,” You can add to the specialty of this cheesecake by using chocolate biscuits with a touch of rum as a base.”

Chocolate Cheesecake

Recipe Source: Tarla Dalal

Setting Time:  2 hours
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 12 mins
Makes 1 cheesecake in 8.5 inches tin

Ingredients:

For The Biscuit Base:
24 or 200grms digestive biscuits ( 2 packets of McVitie’s Digestive biscuits }
½ cup or 100 grms melted butter (I used Amul)

For The Basic Cheesecake:
1 litre milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp cream cheese (see notes)

For The Chocolate Ganache:
¾  cup  or 150grms  dark chocolate, chopped fine
½ cup or 100 ml  fresh cream

Other Ingredients:
2 cups  or 200 grms dark chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup or 100 ml fresh cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup whipped cream
Method:
For the biscuit base:

• Put all the biscuits in a Ziploc bag and crush them into a coarse powder with a rolling pin.
• In a bowl mix the crushed biscuits and butter.
• Spread and press the mixture into the base of loose bottomed cake tin.
• Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Keep aside.

To make the basic cheese cake mixture:

• Keep aside ¼ cup of milk and boil the remaining in a deep pan.
• When the milk starts boiling remove from the flame add the lemon juice. Wait for 2 minutes stir once and wait again for 2 minutes or till the milk curdles.
• Use a muslin cloth to strain out all the whey. Once the paneer cools down a bit squeeze out all water.
• Combine the paneer with the milk set aside and sugar blend in the mixer to a smooth paste.
• Add the cream cheese and blend again to a smooth paste. In case you see feel there are any lumps strain it. Set aside.

Now let’s make the chocolate cheese cake filling:

• Combine the chocolate and fresh cream and microwave for in spurts of 30 seconds till the chocolate melts. Remove and mix gently till no lumps remain.
• Add vanilla essence and mix well.
• Now add the basic cheese cake mixture mix well.
• Add the whipped cream and fold gently till no streaks of whipped cream remain.
• Pour the mixture evenly on the biscuit base. Spread evenly. Smoothen out. The recipe recommended use of palate knife to spread the mixture I could not manage it. So I used the base of a steel bowl to smoothen out the base.
• Refrigerate for about 1 hour or till the cheese cake sets.

As the cheesecake sets let’s make the chocolate ganache:

• Heat the cream in a medium bowl (non-stick preferable) and bring to boil. Please remember to heat continuously.
• Remove from the flame; add the chocolate and mix gently to get a smooth mixture.
• Cool to room temperature. Keep aside.

The final product:

• Once the cheese cake has set pour the ganache on the cheese cake and spread evenly. (I tried again with a bowl but could not even out the surface. As I am typing out this post I was thinking if I should have poured some warm water in the bowl and gently smoothened out the ganache. Will that help?) Please let me know your thoughts.
•  Refrigerate for 1 hour.
•  Demould and serve cut in equal wedges.

The crust less Chocolate cheesecake!!

Notes:

• To make cream cheese blend tblspn each of cream, paneer and hung curds in the mixer. This will give you 3 tblspn of cream cheese. Use the left 1 tblspn in any gravy. (That’s what I plan to do).
• The crust you cannot see here (these are the only pictures I got of the cake) as I had put in the bottom wrong. For The crust I had to struggle to get out without spoiling the cake. By then there was a desperate demand for the cake and offers that we will eat the crust separate anyway it has to go in one place only. They will follow one another etc.  So no pictures of the crust and the cake. Sorry. Now that I know how this is done I will make it again and update the pictures.
• The original recipe has used chocolate squares and triangles to decorate the cake. These are not available here commercially and my attempts to make them (thanks to the demos organized by Vaishali at Ahmadabad) resulted in a horrible mess that was gladly gobbled up. Need the proper equipment to make it.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Face Book page. I will be happy if you can follow me on Twitter too!

Archana

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