Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake. Layers of chocolate and Bailey’s Irish Cream flavoured cheesecake topped with shards of Bailey’s chocolate truffles. The perfect indulgent dessert for St. Patrick’s Day.

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake

St. Patrick’s Day is later this week. Here in Newfoundland, for many of us, that means the beginning of a long weekend.

Such are the perks of continuing to celebrate our proud Irish heritage in this province.

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake

We are kicking off the holiday weekend with some “sips n’ nibbles” with friends this evening.  We will enjoy some roasted red pepper hummus, apple walnut and brie phyllo bundles, and chicken souvlaki and lemon mint tzatsiki on homemade flatbread.

I like to use 50% dark chocolate chips for the topping but you can use semisweet as well.

As the closer for the evening, this fantastic Chocolate Irish Cream Truffle Cheesecake. It uses plenty of that great Irish tipple in both the cheesecake and in the truffle garnish.

Spoon the second layer carefully over the first.

Baking the perfect cheesecake.

To perfectly bake a cheesecake, I have come to insist on a low oven temperature and baking the dessert in a bain marie.

A word about baking a cheesecake in a bain marie before starting the recipe. A bain marie is simply a water bath that buffers the direct heat from the sides and bottom of the baking pan. It helps to more evenly bake the cheesecake from the sides to the centre.

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake

I bake my cheesecakes in a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan. The pan has the bottom and sides wrapped in multiple layers of wide heavy duty aluminum foil. This serves as  a sort of boat that the cheesecake pan sits in.

The roll of aluminum foil that I use is about 16 inches wide. I use at least 4 layers of foil to make sure that no water leaks in and ruins the crust of my cheesecake.

Jameson Whiskey, Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur and Guinness Stout Beer.

Boiling water buffers heat.

The aluminum foil wrapped pan is then placed inside a larger baking pan. I use a 12 inch cake pan. Boiling water is then poured into the larger pan filling it from 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the top.

I find it best to pour the boiling water into the pan after it is placed on the rack in the oven. You are less likely to splash water onto the cheesecake or inside the aluminum foil. I reuse the aluminum foil for several future cheesecakes, adding a couple of layers to it each time just to be safe.

Even if you choose not to use the bain marie, I would still use the aluminum foil wrap. It does help to buffer heat. It will also catch melting butter that seeps through the springform pan and smokes when it hits the bottom of a hot oven.

Grease bottom but not sides of  the 9 or 10 inch spring form pan. I like to line the bottom with parchment paper for easy removal from the pan.

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Yield: 16 servings

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake - layers of chocolate and Bailey's Irish Cream flavoured cheesecake topped with shards of Bailey's chocolate truffles. The perfect indulgent dessert for St. Patrick's Day.

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Ingredients

For the Graham Crumb Crust

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, or digestive biscuit crumbs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 tbsp sugar

For the cheesecake layers

• 1 ½ pounds cream cheese, three 8 ounce packages
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 tbsp cocoa, sifted
• 1/2 cup Irish Cream Liqueur

For the Irish Cream Truffle topping

• 1 cup chopped chocolate, or good quality chocolate chips with a minimum 50% cocoa content
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/4 cup Irish Cream Liqueur

Instructions

To prepare the crumb crust

1. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper but do not grease the sides.
2. Mix together the graham crumbs butter and sugar and press evenly into the bottom of the prepared spring form pan.

To prepare the cheesecake layers

1. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar for a few minutes until well combined.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Blend in the vanilla extract.
4. Divide the cheesecake batter into two equal portions. To the first half blend in the sifted cocoa and 1/2 cup whipping cream. Spread evenly over the prepared crust.
5. To the second half of the batter blend in the 1/2 cup Irish Cream Liqueur.
6. Carefully spoon this slowly over the chocolate layer already in the spring form pan.

To bake the Cheesecake

1. Bake in a bain marie at 300 degrees F for 75-85 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary slightly. Mine takes the full time and you can go to 90 minutes if you feel you need to.)
2. Don't be an compulsive oven door opener! Don't open it at all in the first hour.
3. The cheesecake does not have to brown at all on top in order to be fully baked; the surface of the cheesecake should lose any shine when the cake is properly baked. It can still be slightly wobbly just at the center at this point.
4. Let the cheesecake cool completely before placing in the fridge for several hours to chill completely.
5. Top with the Irish Cream Truffle before serving.

To prepare the Irish Cream Truffle Topping

1. Melt together the chopped chocolate, corn syrup and Irish Cream Liqueur slowly in a double boiler.
2. Spread the truffle mixture over the well chilled cheesecake. Let set about a half hour before serving.

Notes

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

TIPS

In my opinion, baking the perfect cheesecake requires the use of a bain marie during baking. A bain marie is simply a water bath that buffers the direct heat from the sides and bottom of the baking pan to more evenly bake the cheesecake from the sides to the center.

I bake my cheesecakes in a 9 inch spring form pan that has the bottom and sides wrapped in multiple layers of wide heavy duty aluminum foil which forms a sort of boat that the cheesecake pan sits in. The roll of aluminum foil that I use is about 16 inches wide. I use at least 4 layers of foil to make sure that no water leaks in and ruins the crust of my cheesecake. The aluminum foil wrapped pan is then placed inside a larger baking pan; I use a 12 inch cake pan.

Buffering the heat

Boiling water is then poured into the larger pan filling it from ½ to ⅔ of the way to the top.I find it best to pour the boiling water into the pan after it is placed on the rack in the oven as you are less likely to splash water onto the cheesecake or inside the aluminum foil. I reuse the aluminum foil for several future cheesecakes, adding a couple of layers to it each time just to be safe.

EVEN IF YOU CHOOSE NOT USE A BAIN MARIE

Still use the aluminum foil wrap around the cheesecake pan. The aluminum foil still offers a good buffer to the heat. High heat and baking too quickly is the main reason that a cheesecake becomes dense and not creamy.

Nutrition Information

Yield

16

Serving Size

1 serving
Amount Per Serving Calories 415Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 16gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 97mgSodium 250mgCarbohydrates 34gFiber 1gSugar 26gProtein 5g

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