Cake; Chocolate cheese cake that is a rich and creamy cake. Chocolate cheese cake recipe.
Some days I think I should turn this blog into a chocolate-only blog. I mean, I love coconut and peanut butter, and caramel and nuts, and all the rest, but when it comes right down to it, chocolate is my first love.
I know, I know, it’s so cliche. Roses are my favorite flower, and Christmas is my favorite holiday, and chocolate is my favorite sweet flavor.
Does that make me boring? I hope not. Because this cheesecake is anything but.
I really don’t make honest-to-goodness real baked cheesecake much. They are time consuming and fussy, but oh, so amazingly rich and delicious. I don’t even own a springform pan
Although, after making this cheesecake I think I’m going to need to get one right away.
To make this cheesecake, I started with my great-grandfather’s recipe. He used to love to experiment in the kitchen, and as he lived alone and next door to us for many years, we were often the grateful recipients of the results of those experiments.
He made all kinds of things. He grew his own dill and cucumbers and made homemade dill pickles, a process that took about three days. And I remember him giving me peanut butter and bacon on toast. (He was kind of a bacon fiend.) But the cheesecake was kind of his signature piece.
We knew him as Grandpa Chuck, but when he was cooking, he preferred Chowhound Charlie, making the official title of this recipe “Chowhound Charlie’s New York Cheesecake.”
Don’t skimp on the ingredients here. You’ll need three bricks of cream cheese and 4 bars of chocolate.
It’s so rich and creamy, a small slice is probably plenty. In the recipe below, I listed the yield as 8 slices, but we cut it into 10 and it would be totally acceptable to even make it 12 small slices.
A small slice is enough to make you remember that chocolate really is the best!
Want more? Try these decadent chocolate desserts!
- 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used crushed Oreos, with the filling removed)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 24 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
- For crust, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press into a 9-inch springform pan, and chill in the fridge or freezer while you make the cheesecake filling.
- For cheesecake, beat soft cream cheese with eggs and sugar until creamy. Add sugar, vanilla, sour cream, and cornstarch, and mix well.
- Roughly chop the chocolate and place in a small bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until completely melted. Add melted chocolate to cheesecake mixture, and mix well, until chocolate is completely incorporated.
- Pour filling into chilled crust. Bake at 325F for 1 hour. Then, turn off oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for an additional 1 hour before removing. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR or disturb cheesecake in any way during this time.
- For ganache topping: Roughly chop 4 oz. chocolate. Place chocolate and cream in a double boiler or heat proof bowl over boiling water. Heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is well combined and smooth, stirring constantly.
- Pour ganache over cheesecake. Let chill several hours in the fridge.
- Before serving, use a knife to loosen edges from the pan, undo the spring and remove the ring. Slice into 8-12 slices, and top with sweetened whipped cream, if desired.
I am definitely making this for our next family gathering. This sound heavenly. Wait a minute, I don’t want to share this-I’m making it for myself. Thanks for posting Jen!
La Verne
Hi Jen Just two questions, are the bars of chocolate unsweetened because of the amount of sugar in the cheesecake or are they sweet? How about the 4 ounces in the Ganache, since there is no sugar listed is this 4 ozs. of sweet chocolate bars? Love your recipes & will be making this one. Thank you
Tessa, thanks for asking. I used semi-sweet bars in both cases. I should definitely have specified that in the recipe. I will go and correct it now!
Excuse me while I pass out from cheesecake lust!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, Jen! I love that this was your grandfather’s recipe and it’s clear that your apple didn’t fall far from his tree.
This is the Super Bowl of cheesecakes.
This is the kind of recipe I want to take a half day to do.
Sweet.
I made this cheesecake a few days ago, and my boyfriend and I have almost demolished it. It’s perfect!! The only thing I did differently was left the filling in the cookies when I crushed them. This will be a great recipe for holiday parties, thanks!!
This is like the king of chocolate cheesecakes! So much chocolate; gotta love it!
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