Foodie Friday

I thought it was time to dish out another recipe. The reno's moving along, but nothing sexy enough to blog about at the moment. I want to share my first "original" recipe, which also won first prize among a field of 16 in last year's dessert competition at work. I posted it on AllRecipes.com and submitted it to be "kitchen tested," but haven't heard back yet. I'm sure they get a few submissions ;) I mostly cobbled together a graham cracker crust recipe, changed a green tea cheesecake recipe, and added the chocolate creme layer to make one fairly stellar dessert. A friend's 7-year-old said it was "better than La Madeline," which made me happy. Sadly, I've failed to take a photo each time I've made it, so I can't wow you with a visual on this one.


Ingredients

• 2 Cups crushed Oreo cookies (less than 1 package) 
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Cheesecake:
• 3 8oz. packages of regular cream cheese, softened (aka leave on counter for a while) 
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (the best you can find) 
• 3 large eggs
• 5 oz. heavy whipping cream
• Chocolate Creme:
• 1 package milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips (OR 12 oz chopped chocolate)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

This is not a low-fat recipe. You might be able to do some reduced-fat cream cheese and half & half instead of heavy cream, but it's probably best just to eat less at a time ;) Egg beaters are a win though. 

Directions

1. Preheat oben to 350 (325 for convection)
2. Set out your cream cheese to soften.
3. To Make Crust:
4. Pulse Oreo cookies in a food processor or place in plastic baggie and crust with rolling pin until you have 2 cups. Melt the butter. Combine oreos and butter in a medium bowl and stir until crumbs are uniformly wet looking. Press crumbs into a 9x13" pyrex or metal pan (or 9x11" for thicker bars) in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F.
5. Cheesecake Filling:
6. While crust is baking, begin making filling. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time and continue mixing. Stir in whipping cream and mix until incorporated. Pour or spoon mixture onto baked crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes. The filling should still jiggle slightly when shaken and be just beginning to brown on top when it's done. 
7. Chocolate Layer:
8. When cheesecake layer is nearly done cooking (maybe 5-10 minutes left) begin making chocolate filling. Place chocolate chips and egg in a blender. Heat cream in a microwave-safe measuring cup until just boiling (1-2 minutes). Add hot cream to egg and chocolate in blender (this kills the salmonella etc in the eggs). Place lid on blender and and mix/puree until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape sides of blender and blend once more until smooth. Pour chocolate layer onto cheesecake once it's done baking. Allow to cool for a while on the stovetop or other heat-safe surface and then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Slice and serve.

So the 3 separate stages can be a bit of a pain, but no stage of this dish is particularly difficult. It works well for events where you have to bring a dish (best make it the night before), and has been a crowd pleaser wherever I take it. 

Enjoy!