Recently my aunt told me about a cheesecake baking competition that is coming up at our synagogue. I looked through all of my cheesecake recipes and considered which one would be worthy of entering into a contest. Then I thought that maybe I should try a new cheesecake recipe during my birthday celebration with my family and see if it was worthy of a contest entry.
The
recipe that I found was from the Godiva website and it was entitled “Dream
Cheesecake”. With three different cheesecake layers and a chocolate glaze it
was, in fact, a dream to eat. The chocolate wafer crust was topped with a layer
of chocolate cheesecake, followed by a slightly caramel-reminiscent pecan
layer, then a classic vanilla layer and finished with the chocolate glaze on
top.
Unfortunately,
all of this layering made for a nightmare when it came time to slice and serve
the cake. The crust came away from the cake and crumbled on the plate rather
than staying together, probably a result of too little butter. Even though the
cake tasted delicious it was too messy to serve neatly and eating it was a
little difficult as well.
Due
to serving difficulties I took this cake out of the running as a potential
contest entry. However I liked the idea of adding chopped nuts to the middle
layer and using brown sugar instead of the usual white granulated sugar. I may
have to go back to the drawing board and create a new cheesecake that features
these flavors more prominently.
Chocolate Dream Cheesecake
Note: The original recipe was for a 9" cake. I altered the quantities so that I could make it in my 11" pan. The original recipe can be found here. I also used my own chocolate glaze recipe which can be found here. I recommend to work from the bottom up and make one layer at a time, as each needs time to set before the next one goes on.
For the crust:
- 2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
For the chocolate layer:
- 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 105 grams dark chocolate, melted
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ cup sour cream
- Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for about a minute, until smooth.
- Beat in the sugar and then the egg, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Beat in the vanilla and sour cream. Once incorporated, beat in the chocolate.
- Continue to mix until the chocolate is well incorporated and no streaks remain. Pour the filling into the cooled pan and put in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to slightly set.
- 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1¼ tbsp flour
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for about a minute, until smooth.
- Beat in the brown sugar and flour, then the egg, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Beat in the vanilla. Once incorporated, use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently mix in the chopped pecans.
- Pour the pecan layer over top of the chocolate layer and use a spatula to spread evenly across so that none of the chocolate layer is showing. Return the pan to the refrigerator again for 10 minutes.
- 6.25 oz (175 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1¼ cup sour cream
- Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for about a minute, until smooth.
- Beat in the sugar and then the egg, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, and sour cream.
- Spread the vanilla layer evenly over the pecan layer, making sure none of the previous layer is visible.
- Bake the cheesecake for 50 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit using a hot water bath or by placing a pan of hot water on the lowest rack beneath the cake.
- Without opening the oven door, turn off the oven and leave the cake to cool for 1 1/2 hours inside the oven. Afterward, remove from the oven and cool to room temperature before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, though preferably overnight.
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