Cheesecake Update

I have not been idle on the cheesecake front. I have some small (4”) springform pans that make mini-cheesecakes about a quarter the size of a regular 9” or 10” cheesecake. And I realized that my basic cheesecake recipe is easily divisible by four. So I can bake cheesecakes to my heart’s content without drowning in extra slices (or gaining a significant amount of weight). Each mini-cheesecake gets cut into four slices. One is for the cook. The other three get rearranged into cheesecake samplers that I can give to friends.

Since the Big Island cheesecake, I’ve made strawberry swirl, brown sugar and molasses (I’m very happy with that one), bitter orange, honey, ginger, and spicy chocolate cheesecakes. Yes, spicy chocolate. When I dream up a recipe I usually have a pretty good sense for how it will taste. This one was exactly what I imagined only much, much better. The cheesecake is rich, dense, and chocolatey which ends in a spicy little kick that sneaks up on you thanks to cayenne pepper in the batter. You could certainly omit the cayenne for a plain chocolate cheesecake, but I think the spicy finish tempers the richness of the chocolate very nicely. You don’t need to eat a lot of this dessert; one small slice is extremely satisfying.

Spicy Chocolate Cheesecake (one 9” or 10” cheesecake)

Crust

• 5 oz. chocolate wafers
• 3 tbsp. butter, melted

Filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. coffee liqueur
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 cup light cream, at room temperature

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°. Grease the sides of a springform pan.
2. In a food processor, process the chocolate wafers to fine, even crumbs. Add the butter in a slow, steady stream while pulsing. Pulse until the mixture is evenly moistened and resembles wet sand, about ten 1-second pulses. Press into the springform pan. Line crust with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil, and cool.
3. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, coffee liqueur, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper and beat until smooth. At low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the flour and beat just until incorporated. Add cream and beat just until incorporated.
4. Cover bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil and place in a water bath in a roasting pan (water should come about 1 inch up the side of the springform pan). Bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and let stand for 1 hour.
5. Cool completely. Carefully remove the springform pan. Chill for at least 4 hours.