Black and White Marbled Cheesecake

YAY! I'm finally back...I finished another semester and got back to baking the next day because I missed it so much.
This post is dedicated to one of the best cheesecake recipes ever! When I made this cheesecake...the texture was so creamy and smooth...and the cheesecake DID NOT crack a SINGLE BIT when it was done baking in the oven. I urge all of you to try it!

In case you're wondering, I got this recipe from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I have only tried this one recipe so far...but it seems like a great book. So if you're an avid baker...go ahead and add this book to your collection as I did, or get it as a present for someone who is!

Ingredients:

(For the crust)

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 (or 4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
  

(For the cheesecake)

• 2 lbs (4 8-oz boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two (I used a combination of both)
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
  

1. To make the crust, butter a 9-inch springform pan- choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over)- and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.

2. Stir the graham cracker crumbs (I crushed the graham crackers in a food processor), sugar,and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I did it with my fingers so I can get a feel for the moistness and texture.)

3. Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of graham cracker crumbs over the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. (Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach slightly above or below the midway point on the sides.)

4. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven (about 10-15 minutes). (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

5. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the springform pan on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degreesF.

6. To make the cheesecake, put a kettle of water on to boil. Working with a stand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 4 minutes.

7. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue beating for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Then, beat in the vanilla.

8. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition- you want a well-aerated batter.

9. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

10. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the springform pan with some space around it.

11. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that there is nothing left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape two-thirds of the batter into the springform pan.

12. Melt the 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (or you can melt in a saucepan placed over a pot of simmering water).

13. After the chocolate is melted and cooled, add it to the remaining one-third of the batter still in the mixing bowl. Mix it all up with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is fully incoporated and the mixture takes on a brown color.

14. Pour the chocolate batter into the top of the vanilla batter, then use a tableknife to swirl the chocolate batter through the vanilla batter to create a marbled effect. (Altogether, the batter will reach the rim of the pan. If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small souffle mold.)

15. Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into it to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

16. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top should be browned (and perhaps cracked...but mine didn't) and may have risen just a little bit above the rim of the pan.

17. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

18. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster pan (be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil) and remove the foil.

19. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (although letting it refrigerate overnight is better).

20. At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan (and if you wish, set the cake on a serving platter).

21. The cheesecake will taste great served with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and I personally also add a serving of whipped cream...yummmm.
(The recipe for the chocolate sauce can be found below.)

Note: If you don't want to make the black and white cheesecake, the recipe for "The Basic Cheesecake" is the same as the one above, except you take out steps 12 and 13, and for step 11, instead of putting only two-thirds of the vanilla batter in the springform pan, you put ALL of the mixture into the sprinform pan. Very simple

Some tips on making cheesecake from Dorie Greenspan:

1. Use a springform pan with removable sides!!!
2. Prebake the crust.
3. Mix like mad!!! (Make sure to blend the batter until it is not just lump-free but satiny- any lumps in the batter will NOT disappear during baking. This is to ensure the "flawlessly smooth texture that is the hallmark of a great cheesecake."
4. Cool the cake.
5. Unmold it with care.

Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce Recipe

Note: This is a "deeply flavorful sauce"...it has a strong (and slightly bitter, hence "bittersweet") taste and it is rich in texture, so pour only a little bit on top of each individual cheesecake slice when serving.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar
  

1. Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan, and put the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring ocassionally to blend.

2. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat a metal spoon: if you run your finger down the back of the spoon, the sauce should not run into the track you've created.

3. If you want to use the sauce in its pourable state, let it cool for about 10 minutes and then use immediately.

4. If you want to save it for later, pack it into an airtight container and refrigerate until needed.

5. The sauce can be stored by being kept in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks. If you want to use the sauce warm, heat it gently in a microwave oven or in a bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. (In its chilled state, this sauce can be spread over cookies.)