Killer Cheesecake Food

KILLER CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a food processor, combine graham crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar, butter and cinnamon. Pulse until smooth. Press into the bottom of an 8x12 inch baking dish.
• In the food processor, combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, eggs and vanilla. Process until smooth. Pour over crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow to cool for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Spread over top of cheesecake. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

KILLER CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Position oven rack in middle of oven; preheat oven to 350°.
• Butter a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the outside tightly with heavy-duty foil.
• Have a roasting pan ready, and put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath.
• Make the crust: pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor until finely ground.
• With the motor running, slowly add the butter, and process just until blended.
• Press mixture onto the bottom of the pan.
• Bake crust for 8-10 minutes, until it is set; let cool on a wire rack.
• Make the filling: melt the chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth.
• Whisk in the cocoa powder.
• Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer, beginning on low speed and increasing to med-high speed, in a medium deep bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in the salt.
• Beat in the chocolate mixture just until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
• Add in the sour cream and vanilla; beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
• Transfer the filling to the springform pan.
• Set the pan in the roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is almost set but still slightly jiggly; do not overbake--the cheesecake will firm as it cools.
• Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.
• Remove the springform pan from the water bath and let cool completely on a wire rack, then remove the foil and refrigerate the cheesecake, loosely covered, until thoroughly chilled, at least 12 hours, or overnight.
• To serve--let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Remove the pan sides, smooth the sides of the cheesecake with a table knife, and cut into wedges.

DEVIL'S FOOD CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Early in the day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and generously butter the bottom and sides of one 9-inch springform pan (preferably a nonstick one). Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides.
• To make the cheesecake layer, put one package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl a couple of times. Blend in the remaining cream cheese, one package at a time, scraping down the bowl after each. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat in the remaining 1 cup sugar, then the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each. Beat in the cream just until it's completely blended. Be careful not to overmix!
• Gently spoon the batter into the foil-wrapped springform and place it in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Bake the cake at 350 degrees F until the edges are light golden brown and the top is slightly golden tan, about 1 1/4 hours. Remove the cake from the water bath, transfer to a wire rack, and cool in the pan for 2 hours, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate (while still in the pan) until it's completely cold, about 4 hours. Place in the freezer until ready to assemble the cake.
• Meanwhile, prepare the devil's food cake layers. Check that the oven is preheated to 350 degrees F and that the water bath has been removed. Generously butter the bottom and sides of three 9-inch round layer cake pans. Very important: Line the bottom of all three pans with parchment or waxed paper (don't let the paper come up the sides).
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Cream the butter and both sugars together in a large bowl with the mixer on medium until light yellow and creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, mixing well after each until blended.
• Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean medium-size bowl and beat with clean, dry beaters on high until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Fold about one-third of the whites into the chocolate batter until they disappear, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Don't worry if you still see a few white specks--they'll disappear during baking. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 30 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and gently peel off the paper liners. Let cool completely, about 2 hours, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until ready to assemble the cake.
• Early on the day you plan to serve the cake, make the chocolate curls and lay them out on the marble or baking sheet to dry. Now make the frosting: In a large bowl, sift the confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and salt together. In another large bowl, cream the butter with a mixer on high until light yellow and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. With the mixer still running, beat in the chocolate, corn syrup, and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the sugar-cocoa mixture in two additions, beating well after each. Blend in the cream until the frosting is a spreading consistency, adding a little more cream if needed. Whip the frosting on high until light and creamy, about 2 minutes more.
• To assemble the cake, remove the cheesecake from the freezer and let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes. Place one layer of devil's food cake, top side down, on a cake plate and spread with some of the frosting. Release and remove the ring of the springform, then remove the frozen cheesecake from the bottom of the pan. Place top side down on the frosted cake layer and spread with some frosting. Top with the second devil's food layer, top side down. Spread with more frosting and cover with the third devil's food layer, top side up. Brush away any crumbs from the sides and top of the fudge cake layers. Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting, spreading the top with frosting about 1/2 inch deep. Use a long metal spatula that has been warmed under hot running water to smooth out the frosting on the sides and top of the cake. Coat the sides with the chocolate curls, placing them where you want. With a small spatula or table knife, swirl the frosting on top into a decorative design. Or, if you wish, decorate with a crosshatch design: Make about 6 vertical lines, 1 inch apart, then crisscross 6 more horizontal lines the same distance, swirling the icing a little as you go.
• Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours to allow the cheesecake to thaw enough to easily slice. Use a sharp straight-edge knife, not a serrated one, to cut it. Cover any leftover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate, or wrap and freeze for up to 1 month.
• Chocolate Curls: At Junior's, the bakers often use dark chocolate curls to decorate cheesecakes for a delicious and very professional looking finish.
• For large chocolate curls:
• If you have a marble slab, use it. If not, use a baking sheet (place the sheet in the refrigerator to chill first).
• Melt the chocolate over low heat. Spread it out in a thin sheet on the flat marble surface--but not so thin that you can see the surface through the chocolate. Let the chocolate cool.
• Using a baker's bench scraper or a wide, flat metal spatula, scrape up the chocolate into wide curls, lifting them up as you work. The curls will be different widths and lengths, but that's fine. If the chocolate curls up into one long sheet, let it cool more before scraping again. Carefully place the curls where you want them on the cake. If you are decorating the side of the cake with them, press the curls gently into the frosting with your fingers so they stay, without falling off.
• For smaller chocolate curls:
• Buy a thick bar of chocolate and use at room temperature (not straight from the refrigerator). Stand up the chocolate bar vertically, slightly on an angle, against a flat surface, such as a chopping board. Slowly scrape down the bar with a vegetable peeler, allowing the chocolate to fall away into a pile of soft curls. Using a wide, flat metal spatula, carefully place them on the cake.

RICH AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place foil over bottom disk of a 9-inch springform pan, tucking excess underneath disk; assemble pan. Pull up foil around pan sides. Brush interior of pan with butter. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs into pan, tilting it in all directions to coat evenly with crumbs. Cover exterior of pan with a sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in a large roasting pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil for water bath.
• Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed until it is fully incorporated, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl after each addition. Add zest and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Stir in cream and sour cream by hand.
• Pour batter into springform pan. Set roasting pan on oven rack, set springform pan in it, and pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up the side of springform pan. Bake until perimeter of cake is set but center jiggles when pan is tapped, 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off heat and leave oven door ajar, using a long-handled kitchen fork or spoon if necessary to hold it open for 1 hour. Remove springform pan from water bath and set on a wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours. Cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE ULTIMATE

Steps:

• Combine wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup (125 mL) cocoa, icing sugar and butter (can be mixed in the food processor to save some time).
• Press over bottom and 2 inches (5 cm) up the sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan; set aside.
• Beat cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl. Gradually beat in granulated sugar, 2 tbsp (30 mL) cocoa and vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in cream and whiskey.
• Pour into prepared crust; set on baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375 ºF (190 ºC) oven 50 to 55 minutes.
• Cool then chill. Drizzle melted chocolate over surface of cake before serving.