My youngest daughter turned 14 a couple of weeks ago. When I asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted, she requested chocolate cheesecake. Then, just plain cheesecake. Then chocolate cheesecake. Then plain cheesecake. Then chocolate cheesecake. And so on.
So, we compromised with a marble chocolate cheesecake.
Sometimes her indecision drives me a bit bonkers. (Ok. Most of the time.) But this time, it resulted in what is now my favorite cheesecake.
I am very, very picky about cheesecake. And even more picky when it comes to chocolate cheesecake. I am not a fan of the no-bake variety at all. I'm also not a big fan of sour cream cheesecakes or cheesecakes with a graham cracker crust. And, even though cheesecakes packed with peanut butter cups or snickers bars generally look great to me, they are usually way too sweet for my tastes.
But, I LOVE a good New York style cheesecake.
New York style cheesecake includes a large amount of cream cheese, eggs and cream for an ultra-rich, silky smooth, fluffy-yet-dense consistency. While many other styles of cheesecake are baked in a water bath, New York style cheesecake achieves a smooth, soft interior with a golden, firm exterior by baking the cake for a few minutes at a very high temperature before dropping the temperature to very low and baking it out long and slow. New York cheesecake is also generally baked in a shortbread-like crust rather than a graham cracker crust.
For this marble chocolate cheesecake, I started with my favorite New York cheesecake recipe and then swirled in some homemade hot fudge.
Which, looks kind of awesome.
Because it was a birthday cake, I wanted to frost it, but not with any kind of buttercream. Instead, I simply whipped some hot fudge into lightly sweetened whipped cream. The result is a rich, creamy New York style cheesecake with ribbons of fudge weaving through the center and covered in not-too-sweet chocolate whipped cream. It's decadent.
You have a couple of options with this cake... I've included two different crust options below. The one I used for my marble chocolate cheesecake is a cinnamon cookie crust. It's crispy and buttery and the slight cinnamon flavor really compliments the chocolate. I used these Cinnamon Spice Cookies...
However, you could also substitute chocolate graham crackers or chocolate cookie wafers, or even ginger snaps for the cinnamon biscuits. Any of these options are delicious, it just depends on what you're in the mood for.
You could also just make a chocolate cheesecake instead of a marble cheesecake by just stirring the hot fudge into the cheesecake batter until incorporated, pouring the batter into the crust and baking as instructed. Also super yummy.
Finally, you could certainly skip the homemade hot fudge and use a couple of bottles of store bought hot fudge instead. This recipe for hot fudge is easy and delicious, and I hope you'll try it; but a good quality store bought would work perfectly well.
Marble Chocolate Cheesecake With Hot Fudge
Marble chocolate cheesecake with ribbons of hot fudge running through the center, a cinnamon cookie crust and chocolate whipped cream makes this New York style chocolate cheesecake recipe perfect for every special occasion.
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIE CRUST
- 1 9-ounce package (about 2 ½ cups) cinnamon biscuits (or other crispy cinnamon cookies, chocolate graham crackers or gingersnaps)
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
FOR THE MARBLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE:
- 5 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ cup whipping cream
- 3 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 cup hot fudge sauce, completely cool
FOR THE CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup hot fudge sauce + more for drizzling over cheesecake slices, if desired
Instructions
MAKE THE CRUST:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Finely crush the cookies in a food processor. Alternatively, you can put the cookies in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- Pour the cookie crumbs into a medium size bowl and add the sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix with your hands until all the crumbs are moistened.
- Press the mixture into the bottom and about ½ inch up the sides of a 9 or 10 inch springform pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet (to catch any butter that might leak out through the bottom of the pan) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling.
MAKE THE MARBLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE:
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- Beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the eggs and egg yolks and beat on low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes more. Add the whipping cream and extracts and mix on low just until combined.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared cookie crust. Drizzle 1 cup hot fudge sauce over the top of the batter and gently swirl it into the batter with a knife.
- Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 1 hour longer. The cheesecake is ready when it no longer jiggles in the middle like jello. There might be some movement in the center of the cheesecake when you jiggle the pan, but it will look set.
- Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door closed for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chocolate cheesecake from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate uncovered for about 3 hours, until chilled. Cover and continue refrigerating for at least 8 hours, or overnight, before frosting and serving.
MAKE THE CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM
- Beat the whipped cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer just until it begins to thicken. Pour in 1 cup of hot fudge sauce and continue beating until soft peaks form.
- Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator, release and remove the sides of the springform pan. Frost the cake with the whipped cream using a metal spatula or knife. Serve immediately with extra hot fudge sauce drizzled on each slice if desired, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 469Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 345mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 1gSugar: 50gProtein: 8g
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Judy says
Just made this cheesecake for my granddaughter's 1st birthday. Alright, it was for her mommy, but it was the hit of the party. I left out the chocolate fudge swirl and topped it with the Salted Caramel Sauce. Rich but not overly so, just the right amount of sweetness.
Rebecca Blackwell says
Cheesecake with salted caramel sauce sounds so yuuuummmmy. I'm so glad the cake turned out well for you and that everyone enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! xo