3D Chocolate Cheesecake

A few years ago when we went home for a visit my husband was looking through my mom's Taste of Home Magazines and he found this recipe for me to give a try. This man has found nothing chocolate that he doesn't like. I finally got around to making it for dessert this week and he is one happy camper. This is a very dense dark chocolate cheesecake topped with a thick dark chocolate ganache. I added the whipped cream to help cut some of the chocolate richness for me; I don't do "rich" as well as he does!

The cheesecake batter is extremely thick so you must use a stand mixer or else you will never get the ingredients combined. If you have a "chocoholic" in your home, they will think they died and went to heaven after the first bite. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (about 5 whole crackers) or 1 cup regular graham cracker crumbs and 1 tbsp. baking cocoa
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling:
4 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 pkg. (10 oz.) 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips, melted and cooled
1/4 cup baking cocoa
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Ganache:
2/3 cup (4 oz.) 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. sugar

1. Place a greased 9-inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 inches square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in cooled chocolate and cocoa. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over crust. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 inch of boiling water to larger pan.
4. Bake at 325 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath; remove foil. Cool cheesecake on a wire rack for 10 minutes; loosen edges from pan with a knife. Cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.
5. For ganache, in a small saucepan, bring cream and sugar just to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate; cover with a lid and allow to sit for 5 minutes to soften chocolate. Whisk mixture until smooth and allow to cool to spreading consistency. This will only take about 15-20 minutes.
6. Remove rim from pan. Spread ganache over cheesecake to within 1-inch of edge. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.

Yield: 16 servings
480 calories per serving
2 gms. fiber