I know, I know.  Another coffee flavoured sweet  bake.  Its a disease, I swear, but I just can’t resist this beautiful combination of flavours.  This delicious dessert is Anna Olsons New York cheesecake given a chocolate and coffee twist.

Ingredients:

INGREDIENTS

Crust

150g chocolate digestives (bashed or blitzed into crumbs)

2 Tbsp sugar

60g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the tin

Cheesecake

3 x 250 gram packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 x 250 gram package of ricotta cheese, at room temperature

250g caster sugar

3 Tbsp cornflour

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp instant coffee

1 Tbsp cocoa

3 large whole eggs

1 large egg yolk

250ml sour cream (not low-fat)

Ganache

250ml whipping cream

150g dark chocolate

1 Tbsp coffee liqueur (optional)

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Method:

Crust

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.  In a bowl, stir the chocolate digestive crumbs, sugar and melted butter until evenly combined and press this into the bottom of an ungreased 8-inch springform pan.  Bake this for 10 minutes, then cool. Brush the sides of the pan with a little melted butter.

Cheesecake

In a small bowl, mix together the coffee, cocoa and sour cream.  Stir thoroughly and leave aside for the dry ingredients to dissolve.

Increase the oven temperature to 200ºC.  In a larger bowl, beat the cream cheese and ricotta until light and fluffy. Add the caster sugar a little at a time, and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl often.  Beat in the cornflour.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, on a lower speed, and scraping after each addition, then beat in the yolk.  Still on low speed, beat in the sour cream, chocolate, coffee mixture. Pour this over the cooled crust.

Bake the cheesecake for 18 minutes at 200ºC and then reduce the oven temperature to 100ºC and bake for 25 more minutes. Turn off the oven, and leave the cheesecake in for an hour, cracking the oven door after 30 minutes.

Allow the cheesecake to cool completely to room temperature, then carefully run a spatula around the outside of the cheesecake to loosen it from the pan.  Place the cheesecake on a wire rack with a plate or baking tray underneath.  While the cheesecake is cooling  break the chocolate into a bowl.  Heat the whipping cream in a pan until just coming to a boil and then pour over the chocolate.  Stir thoroughly until the chocolate has melted and then add in a Tbsp of coffee liqueur (I used ARAKU) .  Leave the ganache aside for a while to cool, when it is thick but still pourable, pour it over the cheesecake and tease dribbles of it over the edges using a spoon or spatula.  Pop covered in the fridge for at least 6 hours to set up before slicing and serving. Enjoy with a strong cup of coffee.