If you're a cheesecake aficionado, this is one to try, especially if you like white chocolate (the redheaded stepchild of the chocolate family, if we’re to be honest). Personally, I haven't seen white chocolate cheesecake on many restaurant dessert menus, other than The Cheesecake Factory's , which is kind of a given. Thus, I deem this recipe worthy of the time and ingredient investment, as your chances of finding a good white chocolate cheesecake while dining out are probably fewer than for other cheesecake flavors.
Highs
1. This is white chocolate taken to the next level. In my opinion, white chocolate is unmatched in its distinctive tangy flavor mellowed by the creamy smoothness of all that cocoa butter and cream. (Yes, there’s the old, tired argument that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate. True. How else would you categorize it, though? I find myself wondering how long the people who categorize foods pondered that one.) Combine white chocolate with cream cheese and heavy cream and you’ve got creamy perfection (and, yes, a lot of saturated fat to boot).
2. If you really like cheesecake, but sometimes the plain New York variety just doesn't do it for you, then this is your cheesecake. It doesn’t have give-your-taste-buds-a-lashing flavor, but it does pack enough that it can hold its own on the cheesecake flavor wheel (should one exist).
3. Grammar rules say that if you write a numerical list, you should have a least three items. I don’t actually have three Highs for this section, but I'm kind of a rules girl, so now at least we have a tidy list of 3 items.
1.Twelve hours. Twelve. That’s how long you’re supposed to leave the cake in the fridge to chill. That’s not counting the amount of time to takes to prepare and bake the cake.
You know the process is going to be a bit of a slog when the chef’s note for this recipe says, “…it is advisable to organize the production of the White Chocolate Cheesecake over 2 or 3 days." The reference to making a cheesecake as a “production,” should be the first clue!
2. It’s a bit much. A chocolate crust and chocolate ganache topping? It just seemed like overkill to me, which is why I ended up skipping the ganache topping (yet again breaking my rule of following the recipe to the letter). I just drizzled some chocolate sauce over the top and called it good.
3. The high-maintenance baking process produces disappointing results. The very center of the cake wasn’t quite baked through, which was frustrating given how much nudging of the temperature dial and arranging of the water level was going on during the prep and baking process.
Special equipment:
- 9 x 3-inch springform pan
- Food processor
- Instant-read test thermometer
Ingredients:
Chocolate Cookie Crust
- 3 T. unsalted butter (2 T. melted)
- 10 Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookes
(Theoretically, you could substitute the fudge cookies with store-bought chocolate wafer cookies to save time. I recommend doing this, although I didn't take my own good advice.)
White Chocolate Cheesecake
- 18 oz. white chocolate, broken into ½-oz. pieces
- ½ c. heavy cream
- 1 ¾ pounds cream cheese, softened
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 t. salt
- 6 eggs
- 1 t. vanilla
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/3 c. heavy cream
- 1 T. unsalted butter
- 1 T. sugar
- 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-oz. pieces
White Chocolate Curls
- 1 large white chocolate bar
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Farenheit.
Coat the inside of a 9x13-inch springform pan with 1 T. butter. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, chop the cookies in 2 batches. Pulse each batch until all the cookies are in crumbs (this should yield 2 ½ c. crumbs), 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer the crumbs to a stainless steel bowl. Combine the cookie crumbs with 2 T. melted butter. Mix by hand until the crumbs bind together. Press the crumbs around the buttered sides of the pan, then onto the buttered bottom of the pan. Place pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Heat 1 inch of water in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium-high heat. Place the white chocolate and ½ c. heavy cream in the top half of the double boiler. Tightly cover the top with film wrap. Allow to heat for 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Set aside until needed.
Place the softened cream cheese, 1 c. sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat on low for 1 minute, on medium for 1 minute, and on high for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on high for 1 more minute. Scrap down the bowl again. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating on medium for 15 seconds after adding, and scrape down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate mixture, then beat on medium for 15 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the batter until it’s smooth and thoroughly combined. Pour the cheesecake mix into the prepared springform pan, spreading evenly.
Place a baking sheet with sides partially filled with 4 c. hot water on the bottom rack of the oven (the bottom rack should be at least 3 inches below the center rack). Place the springform pan on the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the temp to 225 F and bake for 15 minutes. Then lower the temp to 200 degrees F and bake the cheesecake until the internal temp of the cheesecake filling reaches 170 degrees F, about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to remain in the oven undisturbed for an additional 2 hours. Remove from the oven and cool at room temp for 1 hour. Refrigerate the cheesecake for 12 hours (do not remove cake from pan).
After the cheesecake has been refrigerated for 12 hours, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat 1/3 c. heavy cream, 1 T. butter, and 1 T. sugar in a 1 ½-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
Place the semisweet chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour over the top of the chilled cheesecake. Use a rubber spatula to spread the ganache evenly over the top of the cake, being careful not to spread it over the edge and down the sides of the cheesecake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.
The cheesecake can now be released from the springform pan. To do this, wrap a damp, hot cotton towel around the sides of the pan (the towel should be large enough to wrap completely around and cover the sides of the pan – do test this before you select a towel!). Hold it around the pan for about 1 minute.
Carefully release and remove the springform pan. Use a serrated knife to trim the crust so that it is level with the ganache (trim the crust away from the cake so that it does not fall into the ganache).
Decorate the top of the cake with white chocolate curls. To do so, slightly soften a bar of white chocolate and slowly run a vegetable peeler over it to produce chocolate curls.
Heat the blade of the slicer under hot running water before slicing into the cheesecake. Cut the cheesecake with the serrated slicer, reheating the slicer after each slice. Place a piece of cheesecake in the center of each plate and serve.
