Sweet Cheesecake Recipes
Chocolate-Almond Layered Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust
- 2/3 cup almond, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
Filling
- 8 ounces (2 baking bars) bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1-inch pieces
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup almond-flavored liqueur
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
Crust
- Place almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Allow almonds to cool.
- Place toasted almonds in a food processor, and process until finely ground.
- Combine wafer crumbs, ground almonds and butter. Mix well. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the springform pan and 1 1/2 inches up the sides.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Place on a wire rack and let cool completely.
Filling
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on low just until smooth.
- Gradually add sugar and continue beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beaters with a rubber spatula.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add sour cream, almond liqueur and salt, beating just until smooth.
- Divide batter in half. Add melted chocolate to one half of the batter, stirring until smooth.
- Pour the chocolate batter into the crust; spread to create one even layer.
- Carefully spoon the plain batter on top of the chocolate batter.
- Place the pan in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the center is just set.
- Turn off the oven, and leave the cake inside for 30 minutes with the oven door closed.
- Transfer the cheesecake to a wire rack. Loosen it from the sides of the pan with a metal spatula. Let the cheesecake cool completely, then chill it for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Store covered in the refrigerator.