(The Adventures of Commander Cheesecake Continue)
I was determined to try it again.
I went to Kraftfoods.com and pulled up the Kraft recipe for New York Style Cheesecake and I determined that I would make my husband a heart shaped cheesecake for Valentine’s Day.
This time, I decided to add a twist.
I melted some solid chocolate and marbled the cheesecake with it. It looked amazing!
This was pretty easy considering the effect you get from it. Sure, people get excited about a plain cheesecake and a little more excited about a chocolate cheesecake, but swirl a little chocolate in an otherwise plain cheesecake and people REALLY go crazy!
All you need to do to marble a cheesecake is get some semi-sweet or sweet chocolate (which can be as easy as semi-sweet chocolate chips or a Hershey bar). You’ll want to heat it on high in your microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring with a spoon after each 30 seconds to see if the chocolate melts. (Chocolate is funny that way. It will look as though it isn’t melting and then burn in the microwave before you know it. If you stir it up, it will help itself melt and help you avoid burning chocolate. You may not cry over spilled milk, but burned chocolate is worth a few tears!)
Once you have your chocolate melted, you can get creative!
I poured half the plain cheesecake batter in the pan and then drizzled melted chocolate over it in random patterns. Then I took a knife and gently dragged it through the chocolate and batter. You don’t want your chocolate to be in big dollops as it won’t bake well that way. (See my previous comment about burned chocolate.) Then I poured the other half of the cheesecake batter over the first layer and repeated the process. You can get all Martha Stewart on it and really get fancy with your marbling or you can just do the random swirling like I did. Either way tastes great, but going Martha Stewart on a cheesecake can really impress the gals. (Cheesecake is always a great birthday present.)
Once I was done creating my swirly chocolate and cheese confection, I kept in mind the fact that I now live in the Mile High City and, rather than baking for 70 minutes, I baked it for 59 minutes (I would have gone for 60, but my timer only goes to 59 minutes). As it turned out, 59 minutes worked out perfectly.
This cheesecake came out creamy with beautiful veins of chocolate in it.
I had finally mastered the cheesecake!
Now I can spend the rest of the year getting all Martha Stewart on my cheesecakes! I can make Chocolate Cheesecake with chocolate marbling, Turtle Cheesecake, Oreo Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Tiramisu Cheesecake, Strawberry and Raspberry Swirl Cheesecakes, Lemon and Orange Cheesecakes, and Margarita Cheesecake.
Oh, yes. The adventure will continue!