Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

This month's Daring Baker's challenge forced me to make cheesecake. I can appreciate that it tastes good, but it is definitely not my go-to dessert. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to make it though. My friends/taste testers were thrilled that I made this!


Our host this month gave us the freedom to choose the flavor. My choice was chocolate...and mint! I adapted the recipe from the host and from Paula Deen. Below I will include the original cheesecake recipe as well as the adapted one!


The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

crust:
2 cups graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup better, melted
1/2 Tsp peppermint extract

filling:
30 york peppermint patties
1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chips
1/2 cup butter
4 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 large eggs
1 Tsp peppermint extract
1 (16 oz) container sour cream

prepare crust:
-Combine cracker crumbs and sugar in bowl. Add melted butter and peppermint extract. Press mixture in bottom and 1 inch up sides of 10 inch springform pan. Chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes.

prepare filling:
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
-Place peppermint patties evenly over crust. Set aside.
-In another bowl combine chocolate chips and butter. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
-In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and cocoa. Beat until creamy. Add eggs. Beat in extract. Add chocolate mixture, beating until smooth. Stir in sour cream. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn oven off. Leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 4 hours. Remove from oven. Let cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake: (Original)

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.