Triple-Chocolate Cheese Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is not the best cheesecake you'll ever taste, but it certainly is delicious and very easy to make. If you entertain a lot, you'll want to keep this recipe in your dessert roster. The entire cake is made in the bowl of a food processor and it's ready for the oven in less than 30 minutes. It takes about 2 hours to bake and needs to be chilled for at least 6 hours before it is topped with a lovely ganache and served. The cake is quite handsome and it looks like a lot of effort went into its creation. Only you will know that not to be true. The name of the recipe is somewhat misleading. The cake does not use three types of chocolate, but its crust, filling and topping all contain chocolate and that's what gives the cheesecake its triple chocolate name. One of the nice features of this cake is that it doesn't crack. That has to do with the way it is baked and released from the pan. It bakes in a hot oven for an hour, sits in a cold oven for an hour and when it's removed for final cooling, a sharp knife is used to release the sides of the cake from the springform pan. The cake forms a well or depression as it bakes and that is perfect for holding the ganache topping. The cake was developed by Martha Stewart and her recipe is foolproof. I think those of you who try this cheesecake will really enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Triple-Chocolate Cheese Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
Crust
1 package (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
4 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Ganache
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate

Directions:
1) To make crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Assemble a 9-inch springform pan with raised side of the bottom facing down. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground. Add butter, and pulse to moisten. Transfer to prepared pan, and press crumbs firmly and evenly into bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 minutes, and set aside.
2) To make filling: Wipe out bowl and blade of food processor. Add cream cheese, sugar, and salt; blend until smooth. With motor running, add eggs, then sour cream, and finally chocolate; blend filling until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Pour filling onto crust, and bake just until set, 1 hour. Turn oven off, and let cheesecake sit 1 hour in oven, without opening (this helps prevent cracking. Run a thin knife around the edge of pan to help prevent cracking; leave in pan, and cool completely on wire rack. Cover loosely and refrigerate, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
3) To prepare chocolate ganache: In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat, and add chocolate. Stir until melted, then set aside until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Unmold cheesecake. Spread ganache in center of cheesecake; let set before serving. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

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