German Chocolate Cheesecake

As I've mentioned before on my blog - I love making different kinds of cheesecakes - the possibilities are almost endless. This cheesecake was for my mom - she loves German Chocolate Cake. As I was looking through my cheesecake book 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes by: George Geary, I came across the German Chocolate Cheesecake and thought it was a great idea to combine two amazing desserts - and the combination of coconut, chocolate, and pecans is a big winner in my opinion :) It turned out very good, but beware: it's very rich!

Ingredients:

Crust -

• 1 1/4 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely ground
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Filling -

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2 egg yolks, stirred
• 1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup pecan halves
• 3 packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. You will need a 9-inch cheesecake/springform pan with 3-inch sides (ungreased). For the crust, in a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs, pecans, and butter. Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.

2. For the filling, in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, melt brown sugar and butter for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. 

3. Slowly drizzle stirred egg yolks into mixture. Return to medium heat and stir for about 3 minutes. 

4. Add coconut and pecan halves. Cool for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

5. In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

6. Stir in vanilla and melted chocolate. Fold half of the coconut mixture into batter. Set remainder aside for decorating.

7. Pour batter over frozen crust. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until the top is light brown and the center has a slight jiggle to it. 

8. Cool on a rack for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before decorating or serving.

9. Spread remaining coconut mixture on top of cake. (I used a marbled vanilla + chocolate butter cream topping)

Note: You can prepare the coconut mixture up to 3 days prior to use. Stir well before using. You can also substitute toasted almonds for pecans.)