Cake of the Day: Double Choc Cheesecake with Berry Sauce
Every day, Yahoo Food features delectable cakes. They taste good, they look good, and they’re made by good people — talented bakers from around the world. Today, Katie Quinn Davies of the award-winning blog, What Katie Ate, shares a recipe from her second cookbook What Katie Ate on the Weekend, a collection of her favorite simple dishes for weekend entertaining.
Photo: Katie Quinn Davies
Double Choc Cheesecake with Berry Sauce
Serves 8
In Australia I use Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple biscuits for the cookie base here, but you could use Oreo cookies; just bung them in whole, there’s no need to scrape off the cream in the centers first. If you don’t want to use amaretto, you can substitute with 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Leave some of the cherry stems attached for a nicer presentation, if you like.
Cake
9 oz plain (un-iced) chocolate cookies, such as Oreos
¾ cup blanched almonds
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup good-quality dark chocolate
½ cup good-quality milk chocolate
2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1 cup light sour cream
4 free-range eggs
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1¼ cups heavy cream, plus extra, whipped, to serve
4 teaspoons amaretto
Berry sauce
9 oz fresh cherries (pitted, if you like) or sour cherries from a jar, drained well
9 oz strawberries, hulled and halved
5½ oz raspberries
4 teaspoons lime juice
3 tablespoons superfine sugar
Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease and line the base and sides of an 8½ inch springform cake pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil, sealing it securely. Whiz the biscuits and almonds in the bowl of a food processor to fine crumbs. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press this mixture evenly into the base of the prepared pan and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Melt the dark and milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl that fits snugly over a saucepan of gently simmering water, then set aside to cool slightly.
Beat the cream cheese and sour cream in a stand mixer on low–medium speed for 1–2 minutes until smooth and combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated. Add the brown sugar, cream and amaretto and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Beat in the melted chocolate until combined.
Pour the batter onto the cookie base and tap the pan gently on a countertop to remove any bubbles. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan and pour enough cold water into the roasting pan to come 1 in up the sides of the cake pan. Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 1½ hours or until set at the edges with a slight wobble in the center. Leave in the switched-off oven to cool for 1 hour with the door slightly ajar, then remove and cool to room temperature, before chilling in the fridge for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, for the berry sauce, place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low–medium and simmer for 3 minutes or until the fruit is soft but still holding its shape. Drain for 5 minutes over a bowl, reserving the syrup. Place the syrup in the pan and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes or until thick and glossy, then gently fold into the fruit and set aside to cool completely.
Sit the cheesecake on a large plate and remove the pan, then top with berry sauce and serve with whipped cream.
More cheesecakes to love:
An Uncomplicated Cheesecake From Seven Spoons
Fudgy Cheesecake Brownies Recipe
Raw, Vegan Coconut Mango Cheesecake
