Chocolate Truffle Irish Cream Cheesecake
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
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Line the bottom of a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan with parchment paper but do not grease the sides.
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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
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Cream together the cream cheese and sugar for a few minutes until well combined.
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Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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Blend in the vanilla extract.
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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.
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To the second half of the batter blend in the 1/2 cup Irish Cream Liqueur.
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Carefully spoon this slowly over the chocolate layer already in the spring form pan.
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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.)
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Don't be an compulsive oven door opener! Don't open it at all in the first hour.
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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.
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Let the cheesecake cool completely before placing in the fridge for several hours to chill completely.
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Top with shards of the Irish Cream Truffle before serving.
To prepare the Irish Cream Truffle Topping
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Melt together the chopped chocolate, corn syrup and Irish Cream Liqueur slowly in a double boiler and pour into a parchment lined loaf pan.
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Cool thoroughly. at this point you can cut the truffles into small squares or use a melon baller to make round truffles for garnish. Dust the truffle balls or squares in good quality cocoa before garnishing. Alternatively you can use a large sharp to chop the truffles into irregular shards to use as garnish.
Recipe 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.
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. 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.