Chocolate Cheesecake

In theory, the cheesecake purist within me shudders at the idea of something so unorthodox - Nigella Lawson

The verdict
I don't consider myself a cheesecake purist so am unsure what is so wrong with the idea of a chocolate cheesecake. Feel free to enlighten me.

I made this to take to lunch with friends and their children and it went down a treat, unorthodoxy and all.


Unusual or Substituted Ingredients
Nigella says to make just a plain biscuit base for this cheesecake but I couldn't resist adding some baking cocoa to the biscuit mix before smooshing them down with the base of a glass. That's a trick I learned a while back. It's a good one.


Special Utensils or Cookware
You'll need a springform tin and a baking tray large enough to hold it. Once the cake is made, you put it in a bath, about 2-3cm up the side of the tin before cooking it for an hour.


It's worth noting that you're supposed to melt the chocolate and add it to the cheesecake mixture, stirring it through gently so you get a marbled effect.

Nope. Not in my house. I tried that. The chocolate, once it hit the cold mixture, sort of turned into flakes so no marbling occurred. I think next time I'd let the chocolate cool a lot more before I tried that.

Repeatability
Oh yes. This is a good one. Even though I would personally like a chooclate cheesecake that was richer (read: more chocolatey) the rich creaminess of this marvel is pretty bloody good. It's quite a wet cheesecake so it's kind of mousse-like in texture. I'l ddrag this one out for entertaining again and again, I imagine.

This is all that was left after four adults and two children (see below) polished it off.

Sauciness
I imagine if served with a greater concentration of chocolate, some chocolate dipped strawberries, appropriately placed whipped cream and you'd have one very saucy dessert on your hands.

Or, if you're a child, on your face. Meet Miranda and Sebastian. I think their faces say it all.





Bells