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Chocolate

Mocha Marble Cheesecake

by:
April 25, 2015
5
4 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 10 to 12
Author Notes

With two gently mingled flavors, this cheesecake is both beautiful to look at and exciting to eat.

Adapted From Chocolate Holidays (Artisan 2005) —Alice Medrich

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Ingredients
  • For the crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (190 grams) or graham cracker crumbs (140 grams)
  • 6 tablespoons (85 grams) melted butter
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
  • For the filling:
  • 1 1/2 ounces (43 grams) milk chocolate, very finely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons boiling water
  • 1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Directions
  1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, use a fork to mix the cookie crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and instant espresso powder. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the pan.
  2. Prick the bottom of the crust and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is fragrant and dry. Cool on a rack before filling. Grease the sides of the pan above the crust level to prevent the filling from sticking to the pan in case it rises higher than the crust.
  3. Lower the oven temperature to 325° F. Place the milk chocolate in a medium bowl with the coffee powder. Pour the boiling water over it and stir until smooth. Set aside.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese just until smooth, about 30 seconds.
  5. Scrape the bowl and beaters. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat just until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 egg and beat just until incorporated. Scrape the bowl and beaters. Beat in the second egg.
  6. Stir 1 cup of the batter into the bowl of melted chocolate. Pour the remaining plain batter into the prepared crust. Pour or spoon pools or ribbons of milk chocolate batter over the plain batter, making sure to leave some plain batter showing. Jiggle the pan gently to level the batters. Marble the batters with a small spoon by gently stirring in small loopy circles until the colors are intermingled but not blended.
  7. Place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are puffed but the center looks moist and jiggles when tapped. Remove the cake from the oven. If the filling is touching the sides of the pan, above the height of the crust, slide a thin paring knife carefully around the edges of the pan to detach the cake, but do not remove the pan sides.
  8. Place the pan on a rack and cover the pan and the rack with a large inverted bowl or pot so that the cake cools slowly. Cover and refrigerate the cooled cake at least 5 hours, but preferably 24 hours, before serving.
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My career was sparked by a single bite of a chocolate truffle, made by my Paris landlady in 1972. I returned home to open this country’s first chocolate bakery and dessert shop, Cocolat, and I am often “blamed” for introducing chocolate truffles to America. Today I am the James Beard Foundation and IACP award-winning author of ten cookbooks, teach a chocolate dessert class on Craftsy.com, and work with some of the world’s best chocolate companies. In 2018, I won the IACP Award for Best Food-Focused Column (this one!).

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2 Reviews

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trackhorse August 18, 2015
I had some problems with this. I used chocolate cookie crumbs and there was *way* too much butter. Much of it leaked out during the crust bake (and subsequent batter bake). I'm glad there was a baking pan underneath. Also, though I used more crumbs than noted, there was not nearly enough of the mixture to come "halfway up the side of the pan". The fact that the mix was very "wet" with butter did not help. I was using European butter, which has significantly less water than American butter, and it would probably make even more of a mess if American butter were used.

I used a local "artisanal" cream cheese which contains nothing but milk, salt, and enzymes, and the batter was very loose. After baking, it eventually set up somewhat in the fridge, but I think the recipe was originally created for "Philadelphia" type cream cheese which has (as do most of the "organic" brands) artificial thickeners.

Finally, I have never mastered the technique for "marbelizing" batters as indicated. The final product (though tasty) just had a layer of milk chocolate cheesecake on top.
Cindy May 3, 2015
I cannot wait to make this cheesecake. I've made 100's if not 1000's of cheesecakes in my life and I can tell this is a winner and to my taste. When a cheesecake recipe contains flour, it's a drive-by. I don't read any further cause I know it will be caky and not that dreamy velvet crossing your tongue like you've died and gone to heaven. This recipe is a keeper.