Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Chocolate Glaze….(do I really need to add anything more?!?!?!?)….
I bake. Baking is my favorite. I’ve been baking since I was about 10. True confession: I’ve never made cheesecake. Until now. This was a dang good way to start!
I also love Martha Stewart. This is a Martha recipe. And I must say, for being a Martha recipe, it was pretty simple. Martha=usually not simple. This was a nice surprise. And the cake- well, not surprised that it was good. It’s Martha. Of course it’s good. Now we all expect cheesecakes to be rich and heavy. This is no exception. However, there is a lightness in texture and flavor that was unexpected. I love a good New York Cheesecake, almost crumbly. This is much more creamy, but still heavy enough to still have that wonderful cheesecake style.
And, it is gorgeous. If you want to take an impressive dessert to an event, this is a great choice.
As usual, when I bake, the goods usually end up in my office. This cake was no exception. Part of it also made it to a horse show. It was a blue ribbon winner in both settings. I will make this again.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Chocolate Glaze
What you need:
Crust
Cooking spray
1 cup finely ground chocolate wafer cookies
2 Tbs salted butter, melted
2 Tbs sugar
Filling:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
Pinch of coarse salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup smooth peanut butter
Chocolate Glaze:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
3 Tbs butter, cut into small pieces
1 Tbs heavy cream
2 tsp light corn syrup
What you do:
Crust: preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wrap bottom and outside of a a 9” spring form pan with two layers of aluminum foil. Coat inside bottom of pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, then spray again.
Use food processor to finely crush cookie crumbs. I used World Table cookie wafer thins. They were perfect for this. Stir together cookie crumbs, butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Press mixture firmly into bottom of prepared spring form pan. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Place chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave until melted. Start with 30 second intervals and watch closely, as you don’t want it to scorch. Let cool a bit. With a mixer beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add sugar in slow stream until combined. Add salt and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time.
Divide cream cheese mixture in half. Stir peanut butter into one half, and the melted chocolate into the other half. Blend both until well-combined. Ladle one cup of peanut butter filling into center of crust, and tap pan gently on counter to settle. Lade one cup of chocolate filling directly on top of the peanut butter filling, and tap again. Repeat, switching to ½ cup amounts, and continue to do this, alternating, until all of the filling is used. Tap pan on counter occasionally to remove air bubbles.
Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Place cake pan in a large roasting pan, and transfer to oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until cake is set but still slightly wobbly in the center, about 80 minutes. Remove from roasting pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake in pan until cold, at least 6 hours, up to overnight.
Before removing the side of the pan, run a knife around the inner edge, between the cake and the pan. Remove outer ring of pan, then remove the bottom of the pan and parchment. Place cake on serving plate.
Prepare glaze by melting the chocolate and butter in the microwave, at 30-second intervals until just melted. Stir until smooth. Add corn syrup and milk.
Pour over center of cheesecake, allowing it to drip over the edges. You may need to smooth it down a bit if it is a little too thick to drip.
