BLACK FOREST CHERRY CHEESECAKE, ADAPTED

Culinary Joe (desertculinary.blogspot.com), had this recipe on his blog. The cherries looked so good. (His photos were better; I need a new camera; sigh.) When I got right down to it, I had to make some changes.
First, the crust -- I wanted a chocolate shortbread crust simply because I wanted to use up my flour rather than buy something new; namely the chocolate graham crackers.


















Secondly, the cheesecake -- his called for sweetened condensed milk, but only for a small amount. Then I would have to deal with the leftovers. So, instead, I used the Hershey's chocolate cheesecake recipe. I added creme de cocoa to all three parts of the recipe -- the crust, the filling and the topping. Those were my major changes.

Bottom line: This is a delicious, delectable cheesecake. The filling tastes like a rich chocolate ice cream.








Black Forest Cherry Cheesecake, Adapted
Rating: 8 out of 10

Crust: 1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp. creme de cocoa

Mix all ingredients by hand. Using fingers, work the butter into the dough. Pat dough on bottom and partway up sides of 8" springform pan.
Bake in preheated 350F oven for 15-20
minutes, or just till set. Cool completely
on wire rack.
Topping: 1-1/4 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-1/4 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. creme de cocoa
About 20-25 cherry halves

In work bowl of food processor, combine first 5 ingredients. Pulse till smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, till mixture boils. Boil slowly for several minutes, till mixture thickens. (I cooked mine about 10 minutes to intensify the cherry flavor a little.) Remove from heat and stir in the creme de cocoa. Cool completely. Reserve the cherry halves for the top of the cake.

Filling:
2 (8-oz.) pkgs. Neufchatel cheese
1-1/2 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lite sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla paste (or vanilla)
1 tsp. creme de cocoa
2 Tbsp. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 425F. In work bowl of food processor, combine cheese, chocolate, sugar and sour cream. Pulse till cream cheese is smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Mixture may still have some chocolate bits. Add in eggs, one at a time, pulsing till smooth after each addition. Add vanila, creme de cocoa, cocoa, and cornstarch and pulse just till combined. Pour over cooled crust and bake for 15 minutes at 425F. Without opening oven door, reduce temperature to 250F and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, or till cheesecake is almost, but not completely, set. Transfer to a wire rack, away from drafts, and allow cheesecake to cool completely.

Spoon cooled topping over cooled cheesecake, spreading to cover entire top, within 1 inch from outer edges. Place the halved cherries over the topping. (Some cocoa whipped cream piped around the outer edges of the top of the cake would be a nice garnish.)

Refrigerate cheesecake overnight before cutting and serving. Yield: 8-10 servings