Amaretto Fudge Cheesecake with Kahlua Chocolate Cookie Crust and Ganache

This will be my last post for 2015. So my last recipe is a dessert, which I rarely make, made for my family’s 2015 Christmas dinner. So we’ll end the year on a sweet note and as we enter 2016, best wishes to you and your family for the coming New Year. I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s recipes and I’ll see you next year with more recipe postings.

The origin of this recipe was the Amaretto Fudge Cheesecake recipe from cooking.com, whose site no longer exists. I made this dessert once before (a few Christmas’ ago) more or less as in the original recipe. My 2015 recipe version definitely came out delicious after making changes to the original, which included drastically reducing the amount of sugar in the filling. I’m not a fan of overly sweet desserts, so I add the minimal amount of sugar, but everyone has different tastes, so feel free to add more. When making the cookie crust, I’ve found that it’s sufficient to use the entire sandwich cookie (including the filling, which many recipes have you remove) with added flavoring (in this case Kahlúa) rather than adding any additional sugar or butter. I’ve also found that it’s not necessary to bake the crust before adding the cheesecake filling, which saves a step in making this dessert. Finally I added a visual and tasty flourish to the cheesecake by topping it with a flavored ganache (Kahlúa again and it hides any filling surface defects after baking).

Enjoy!

Cookie Crust Ingredients

14.3 oz.	405 g.	One package Nabisco brand Oreo Crème Sandwich Cookies or equivalent
2-4 Tbs.	30-60 ml.	Kahlúa brand Rum and Coffee Liqueur or equivalent (optional)

 

Filling Ingredients

12 oz.	340 g.	Three 4 oz. (113 g.) bars Ghirardelli brand 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate or equivalent
16 oz.	454 g.	Two 8 oz. (227 g.) packages cream cheese
4 Tbs.	60 ml.	Sugar (add more if you like your desserts sweeter)
16 oz.	454 g.	One 1 pint container sour cream
4 Tbs.	60 ml.	Amaretto liqueur
¼ tsp.	1.25 ml.	Almond extract
5	5	Eggs
⅓ cup	80 ml.	Almond meal (finely ground almonds) or all-purpose flour

 

Ganache Ingredients

4 oz.	113 g.	One 4 oz. (113 g.) bars Ghirardelli brand 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate or equivalent
4 oz.	113 g.	Heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Corn syrup (optional)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Kahlúa brand Rum and Coffee Liqueur or equivalent (optional)

 

Equipment

11 cup	2.6 L.	Food processor (or larger)
		Heavy duty aluminum foil to line the springform pan
9 in.	23 cm.	Springform pan
		Drinking glass with a sharp rounded base
		Microwave-safe bowl
		Spatula
		Ovenproof pan to hold the springform pan
		Cooling rack

 

Instructions

1. Take the cream cheese and eggs out of the refrigerator at least one hour before use.
2. The springform pan can be lubricated with some oil or butter, but I prefer to line the inside of the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Wrap the base of the springform pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, and then place the base on another large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, forming a cup with the aluminum foil around the base, using the base as the bottom. Place the spingform around the outside of the cup of aluminum foil and lock the base into the springform. The cup of aluminum foil inside the spingform pan serves as a handy container that can be used to lift out the finished cheesecake after the springform is removed and serves to waterproof the springform pan. Fold the sides of the aluminum foil cup over the outside of the springform pan. The aluminum wrapped spingform base can easily be removed from the cup of aluminum foil and placed onto a serving plate when served.
3. Preheat the oven to 325⁰F (160⁰C).
4. Open the package Nabisco brand Oreo Crème Sandwich Cookies, or equivalent, and place the cookies into the food processor. Optionally add the Kahlúa brand Rum and Coffee Liqueur, or equivalent, and pulse until the cookies are finely ground and forms into a ball (if Kahlúa is not added, then a cookie ball will not form). Add the ground cookies to the springform pan and use a drinking glass with a sharp rounded base to press and form the cookies into an even layer against the base and edges of springform pan. The sides of the crust should come up about two-thirds the way up the springform pan.
5. Break the chocolate for the filling into large chunks and place into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate using the high setting for 1-2 minutes. Use a spatula to smooth the melted chocolate and set aside to cool.
6. Add the cream cheese and sugar to the food processor and blend until smooth. Add more sugar if you like sweeter desserts.
7. Add the sour cream, Amaretto liqueur, and almond extract to the food processor and incorporate all the ingredients.
8. Add the melted chocolate to the food processor and blend all the ingredients together. The bowl used to melt the chocolate can be reused later for making the ganache.
9. Add and blend all the eggs to the food processor, one egg at a time.
10. Add the almond meal or all-purpose flour to the food processor, and then transfer the filling to the springform pan with the crust. Almond meal is finely ground almonds.
11. Place the springform pan into another oven-proof pan. Water will be added later to the oven-proof pan, so it should be at least as tall as the spingform pan, if not taller. Put the oven-proof pan containing the springform pan with the cheesecake into the oven and then fill the oven-proof pan halfway up. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack. The cheesecake needs to cool for at least 3 hours before adding the ganache.
12. Make the ganache by first breaking the chocolate into large chunks and placing into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the chocolate using the high setting for 1-2 minutes. Use a spatula to smooth the melted chocolate before adding the heavy whipping cream and optionally the corn syrup. Adding the corn syrup gives the ganache its sheen and can be omitted. Microwave the mixture using the high setting for 1 minute, until the mixture becomes hot, but not boiling. Use a spatula to smooth the mixture. If the mixture seems too thin, wait since it will thicken as it cools. If too thick, place back into the microwave.
13. Spread the ganache on top of the cooled cheesecake and use a spatula to smoothly spread over the top. Place the cheesecake into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight to allow the ganache to set up.
14. Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cutting and serving. Unfold the sides of the aluminum foil cup from the outside of the springform pan before removing the spingform from its base, and then sliding the base onto the serving plate before cutting.