Tortoise Cheesecake

Sunday, September 5, 2010

It's times like this I wish I was a food photographer so I would be able to take a picture that would really do this cheesecake justice. It is five layers of chocolaty heaven all packaged in a show-stopping presentation. I call this a tortoise cheesecake because, without caramel, it can't be called a turtle cheesecake. The chocolate chips and chopped pecans on top add a nice variation of texture to the creamy cheesecake.



Serves: 16
Start-to-Finish: 2 hours + refrigerating overnight
Recipe By: Audra Burtch (with adjustments to suite my personal tastes)

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 (8-oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 TBSP chocolate flavor syrup
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini morsels

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Grease 9-inch springform pan.
3. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in medium bowl.
4. Press mixture into bottom of springform pan and 1 inch up side of pan.
5. Beat cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in large mixer bowl until smooth.
6. Add sugar, eggs, lime juice and vanilla extract; beat until combined.
7. Microwave chocolate morsels in medium bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; stir. (Morsels may retain some of their shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted.)
8. Stir 2 cups of cheesecake batter into melted chocolate morsels; mix well.
9. Alternately spoon batters onto crust, beginning and ending with yellow batter.
10. Bake for 70 to 75 minutes or until edge is set and center moves slightly.
11. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; run knife around edge of cheesecake.
12. Let cool completely.
13. Drizzle chocolate syrup over cheesecake and sprinkle with pecans and mini morsels.
14. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
15. Remove side of pan and serve.