Today we are making Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake. I was asked to make this for a friend and it went over very well. This cheese cake is very rich. As you can tell by the ingredients.. Hope you enjoy. Happy Easter.
12 oz chocolate graham crackers (23 crackers, to yield about 2 1/3 cup crumbs)
1/3 cup butter
3 bricks cream cheese at room temperature (Do not use whipped or light variety)
9.37 oz brown sugar (1 ¼ cups)
9.5 oz creamy peanut butter (1 cup, do not use natural variety)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
8 fl oz whipping cream (1 cup)
4 large eggs at room temperature and lightly beaten
5 oz semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
8 fl oz whipping cream (1 cup)
1 oz powdered sugar (1/4 cup)
Assorted peanut butter cups for decorating
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Spray a deep 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Place the chocolate graham crackers in a food processor and process them until they’re fine crumbs. (Alternately, you can put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they’re crumbs.)
Melt the butter in the microwave, and stir the butter and crumbs together until the crumbs are the texture of wet sand.
Firmly press the chocolate crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan, then refrigerate the pan while you prepare the filling.
Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (A hand mixer can also be used.) Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until it is fluffy and free of lumps.
Add the brown sugar and mix it in, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl well.
Mix in the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt, and mix on medium-low speed until well-incorporated.
Creamer and 4 ounces of whipping cream.
Finally, stop the mixer and add the lightly beaten eggs. Stir these in by hand with a spatula. At first the mixture will look separated, but keep stirring and it will all come together in a smooth, silky batter.
Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave.
Divide the peanut butter cheesecake batter in half, and add the melted chocolate to one half, stirring until smooth and homogenous.
To make the striped interior effect, take a large ice cream scoop and place two scoops of peanut butter cheesecake in the center of the prepared pan. Place two scoops of chocolate cheesecake right on top of it—this will push down on the peanut butter cheesecake and cause it to spread out. Continue this layering, making concentric circles with the two batters, until you’ve used all the chocolate cheesecake and have only a little peanut butter cheesecake remaining.
Place the springform pan inside a larger cake pan or roasting dish. Carefully pour the boiling water in larger pan, coming halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
Bake at 325 F for 90 – 100 minutes. After an hour, I like to cover the top with very loosely tented foil so that it doesn’t get too dark. The cheesecake should appear set around the edges but still
