Marbled Chocolate Cheescake

This cheesecake came out smooth, creamy, and mousse-like. It was late when it came out of the oven - I let it cool with a bowl over it for about half an hour - but there was no way I could stay up late enough to let it cool all the way - so I put it in the fridge with the bowl over it and hoped for the best. It cooled the rest of the way without cracking. The next day, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and foil, and froze it. After two weeks in the freezer, I put it in the fridge for 24 hours to defrost and then served it. The freezing seemed fine - it was delicious.

5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
3 8 oz packages cream cheese
1 1/4 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

chocolate tart crust:

3 oz. sweet butter
1/2 C sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla
dash salt
1/4 C plus 2T unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 C pastry or regular flour

For Crust:

Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt - process until creamy. Add cocoa and process until mixture is a dark, smooth paste. Add flour and pulse until incorporates but crumbly.

Firmly pat 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of an 8" springform pan. Bake the crust in the springform pan, and the extra dough (loose in a baking pan) at 375 from 10 minutes. Let crust in springform pan cook for another 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pulverize cooked crumbs (these will get pressed onto the sides of the cake when it is finished).

For cake:

-Boil lots of water in a kettle or sauce pan - enough to fill a roasting pan halfway up the sides of the springform pan you are using.

- Heat oven to 325

-Beat cream cheese in mixer on medium speed until it begins to smooth out.
- Scrape down sides of the bowl, gradually add sugar and beat just until completely smooth (do not overbeat here - but be sure it is smooth, once the eggs go in it cannot get any smoother so any grainyness left will remain).
- add vanilla and eggs - one at a time - beat just until well mixed


- Melt chocolate and 1/4 C water (water bath or microwave)
- Measure and set aside 1 C of cheesecake batter - stir warmed melted chocolate into the separate batter
- Pour the rest of the batter into the prepared springform pan.
- Pour the chocolate batter in a ring in the batter in the springform pan - spaces about .5" from the side of the pan. Marble the chocolate batter in with a soup spoon, scooping from edges to center, bottom to top, etc. (I am still not very good at it even though I have made this a bunch of times).
- Wrap the bottom and sides of the prepared springform pan in foil. Put the foil-wrapped pan in a roasting pan and carefully pour in the boiled water until it is halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Carefully put the roasting pan in the oven.

- Check after 25 minutes - it will probably need more time - but bake only until cheesecake shows signs of puffing around the edges but is still very soft in the center. It will not be set in the oven. Overcooking it will wreck it. I think I left it in for about 35-40 minutes the last time I made it.

- remove from oven and cool on rack- covered with an inverted mixing bowl. Unmold when cooled. Press reserved crumbs around sides.

- This was very good served with raspberry and blackberry sauce.


Butter bare sides of springform pan.

This recipe was adapted from a Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts by Alice Medrich and from a Martha Stewart.com recipe for the water bath.