Can it really be Daring Bakers time already?

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny Bakes.  She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

We were given a basic recipe and and then given free reign to flavor it as we wished.

I love cheesecakes not only because they are one of my favorite things to eat, but also because they are so easy to experiment with.  After a bit of debate I decided to go mocha.

iced mocha cheesecake

crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 stick butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

cheesecake

3 bricks (8oz. each) of cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon coffee extract

ganache

150 grams heavy cream

200 grams bittersweet chocolate (chopped)

1/4 teaspoon espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put a kettle of water on to boil for water bath.

Mix crust ingredients together and press into prepared pan.  Use a straight sided glass or measuring cup to press up the sides.  Chill crust while preparing filling.

Combine cream cheese and sugar in bowl of food processor or mixer and cream until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next.  Make sure to scrape down the  bowl in between each egg.  Add heavy cream, vanilla, and coffee extract and blend until smooth and creamy.

Wrap pan with multiple layers of  aluminum foil to make water tight for water bath.  Pour batter into prepared crust and tap pan on counter a few times to bring bubbles to the surface.  Place pan in larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until it come about half way up the sides of the cheesecake pan.

Bake 45 – 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center.  You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage.  Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let it rest in the cooling oven for one hour.  This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough sot that it won’t crack on the top.  After one hour, remove the cheesecake from the oven and lift it carefully out of the water bath.  Let it finish cooling on a rack on the counter, and then cover with ganache.

To make the ganache, mix the espresso powder and cream and bring to a boil.  Pour cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 45 seconds then begin to mix.  It will become creamy when fully incorporated.  Pour over cheesecake.  Allow ganache to cool then cover and put in fridge to cool overnight.