Lord, almighty! I made the most AMAZING dessert last night - Marble Cheesecake. If you don't have the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook yet, you really do need to run out and buy it! Seriously, do it now before you waste your time on cooking something mediocre. So... I needed to bring a dessert for one of those "first date" type dinners with a new couple. I said I'd bring something chocolate-y, and strongly considered the Gluten Free Chocolate Cake or the Black Forest Cake, but I didn't know if the first one was fancy enough, and the second one truly does not travel well - and it has booze in it - and our hosts have three kids. :) So I pulled out my trusty cookbook and decided on this marble cheesecake. If you get a chance to try it - enjoy!!
Makes: one 9-inch cake, Serves 12
Prep time: 10 minutes, Total time: 2 hours 20 min, plus 5 hours 30 min cooling time
Crust
Makes: one 9-inch cake, Serves 12
Prep time: 10 minutes, Total time: 2 hours 20 min, plus 5 hours 30 min cooling time
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- Whisk boiling heavy cream and chocolate together until melted and smooth. Let cool completely.
- For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the graham crumbs, meted butter and sugar together, then pour into a 9-inch spring-form pan. Press the crumbs firmly into an even layer using the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake the crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
- For the filling: Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until softened, 1-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beaters thoroughly.
- Beat in half of the sugar and salt until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the remaining sugar until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, two at a time until incorporated, scraping the bowl and beaters as needed, 1-3 minutes.
- Being careful not to disturb the baked crust, brush the sides of the spring-form pan with the melted butter. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the filling over the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate randomly over the top of the batter. Using a dinner knife or small offset spatula, swirl the chocolate into the cheesecake batter, creating an attractive marbled pattern. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the cheesecake reads about 150 degrees, about 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack and run a pairing knife around the edge of the cake. Let cool until barely warm, 2 1/2 - 3 hours, running a pairing knife around the edge of the cake every hour or so. Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours.
- To unmold the cheesecake, wrap a wet, hot kitchen towel around the spring-form pan. Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.
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