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.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Perfect Cheesecake - Simply Recipes
Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake - My Recipe Finds Online
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake - Carries Sweet Life
Strawberry Cheesecake Entremet - Barbara Bakes
Gorgonzola Cheesecake with Vanilla Pear Compote - Closet Cooking
No Bake Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake Pie - $10 Buck Dinners

Glazed Cream Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely dessert is one of my personal favorites. Despite my love for it, I don't make it all that often. It's not hard to do, but it's time consuming to assemble and I tend to prepare it only for close friends or special occasions. The cake has the same elements as Boston cream pie, but over the years it's been refined and its various components now represent the "best of show" from different places. The sponge layers, génoise, come from Italy, the crème pâtissière is, of course, French, as is the glaze, a rich dark chocolate ganache that's interpreted here by Alton Brown. It is a thoroughly satisfying dessert that I think you'll really enjoy. Final assembly is simple. Two sponge layers are filled with pastry cream and glazed with ganache. Here are the recipes for all three of its elements.

Génoise...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Jacques Torres

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons honey
2 cups unbleached, pastry flour, sifted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) Place a 1-quart saucepan half filled with water over high heat and bring it to a simmer. Make a double boiler by setting a large mixing bowl over simmering water. Place whole eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and honey in mixing bowl and make an egg foam by whisking mixture to 113 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 7 to 10 minutes. When it is thick, it will be hot to the touch, tripled in volume, and light in color and sugar will have completely dissolved. If you dip a whisk into mixture and pull it out, batter should fall back into bowl in a thick ribbon.
3) Remove mixing bowl from heat and whip batter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until it cools, increases in volume, stiffens slightly and becomes pale yellow, about 7 to 10 minutes. Very, very carefully, fold in flour with a rubber spatula until it is no longer visible, making sure to fold to bottom of bowl. Do not over mix or batter will deflate. Fill prepared pans with batter.
4) Transfer to oven and bake on center rack until well-risen and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let layers cool slightly. Unmold, remove parchment paper and finish cooling on a wire rack. Layers can be stored in the freezer for 2 to 3 weeks if well wrapped in plastic wrap. Return it to room temperature before using it.

Crème Pâtissière - French Pastry Cream...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Julia Child

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or 1/2 tablespoon vanilla combined with 2 tablespoons dark rum

Directions:
1) Place egg yolks in a 2-1/2 quart saucepan. Gradually beat in the sugar with a wire whip and beat until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and forms ribbons. Beat in flour, then beat in hot milk in a thin stream.
2) Set over moderately high heat and stir slowly and continuously with a wire whip, reaching all over bottom and sides of pan, until mixture thickens. As it turns lumpy, beat vigorously to smooth it out.
3) Lower temperature and continue stirring for several minutes to cook flour and thicken cream. Be very careful about scorching cream in bottom of pan; be sure your pan is heavy, be sure to keep stirring, and do not use high heat, particularly after cream has started to thicken.
4) Remove from heat; beat in butter and the flavoring. Clean off sides of the pan with a spatula. Film top of the pastry cream with 1/2 tablespoon milk, rum or kirsch to prevent crusting. Chill. (Pastry cream will keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated.)

Ganache...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons corn syrup
6 ounces heavy cream
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine corn syrup and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Cool to room temperature. Pour over cold cake.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Boston Cream Pie - Felice in the Kitchen
Boston Cream Whoopie Pies - Baking and Boys!
Individual Boston Cream Pies - Pastry Studio
Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes - Baking Powders
Deluxe Boston Cream Pie - Eat Me, Delicious
Boston Cream Pie - Annie's Eats