The CuisiNerd

Image Credit: Cheesecake For Breakfast

This recipe comes from Carol at work.

It has been my experience that these cookies will cure an addiction to Girl Scout Thin Mints. Unfortunately, that’s akin to kicking a

coffee habit by switching to speed. But at least the ingredients in here are a little less esoteric than the Thin Mints. So here goes…

Preheat oven to 350F

Melt together (either using a double boiler or a microwave):

• 12 ounces of chocolate
• 2 ounces of unsalted butter.

The chocolate is the key ingredient here, so this is highly subjective to personal tastes. A 50/50 mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate chips works well, or you can throw an ounce of mint chocolate chips into the mix and adjust other quantities accordingly.

While the chocolate is cooling, put a whisk attachment on your mixer and beat:

• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

until you get a ribbon consistency, which should be about 3-4 minutes. Take the bowl off the mixer and stir in:

• Chocolate mixture from above
• 2 tsp Vanilla (and please, use the good stuff)

Sift together:

• 1.5 ounces (1/3 cup) of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir the flour mixture into the batter and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Spoon cookies of about 1 tablespoon of batter onto a cookie sheet that’s been rendered non-stick by the application of  butter/flour,  parchment paper, or teflon.

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they are puffy and cracked, and let cool on a rack.

The cookies can now be eaten as is, or if you want an extra hit of yummy, coat them with:

• 1/4 cup mint chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

(but be sure to melt them all together first)

This will be a hit at office parties or any cookie-friendly gathering (and if it’s not cookie-friendly, why are you going?)

Another interesting variation on this would be to put a little bit of espresso in, instead of mint.

It was getting increasingly difficult to improve on the Marriage Proposal Cheesecake. Amazingly enough, I did.

Quite simply, drown it in a really good ganache. The key to a good ganache is to use top-shelf chocolate. In this case, I used a hunk of Callebaut bittersweet from Whole Foods.

This is a rich chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate shortbread crust and is a favourite of mine (and all my friends) that is a frequent request both for the recipe and the end product.

It has, in fact, garnered me a few marriage proposals (and at least one parental blessing – as well as a few retroactive ones). It has also received a seal of approval from several pregnant women (including my lovely wife – hi, honey!) It is also substantially cheaper and more enjoyable (and possibly more effective) than Prozac. Also makes a good peace offering.

Recently, my grandmother stopped by to get some photos, and I offered her some, having made yet another one…

She had this look of utter bliss on her face once she took a bite. Said something about her two favourite things rolled into one, and it had never occurred to her to combine the two. (the chocoholic part of my genes runs DEEP) She asked me if I was willing to share the recipe. Asked me where I found it, and was visibly proud when I said it was my own creation, a distillation of several recipes. She also mentioned something about this going over really well at church suppers.

Most people rave about their grandmother’s recipes… I’ve got a grandmother who will happily rave about her grandson’s recipes…

Crust

Soften 1/2 cup butter to room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cream the butter until it’s soft and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup icing sugar.

Stir in a pinch of salt, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 3/4 cup flour and mix well. If the dough is too soft, chill in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. Line a springform pan with the dough, bake for 10 minutes and set it aside while you make the filling.

Filling

Soften 3 bricks (24 oz) of cream cheese. Combine with 1.5 cups sugar and 1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract. Mix (at medium speed if using an electric mixer) until it’s smooth and creamy. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

stir 1 cup cocoa powder and blend until smooth and uniform.

Pour the filling into crust (be sure to leave enough in the bowl for licking!) and bake it for about 40 minutes above a 9″x13″ pan with 1/2″ water (this helps prevents cracking). When done (cheesecake should be reasonably firm), open the oven door and let the cheesecake cool down slowly with the oven. When the cake has cooled, chill in the refrigerator.

Serve with a tall glass of milk or several 🙂