Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

So, finally, here is the cake that was baked for Anand’s birthday this year. Having never tried a cheesecake before, I bravely ventured into it and tried Ina Garten’s Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake. To date, this is the most sinfully delicious cake I’ve ever baked! I couldn’t bring myself to stop licking the cake batter off the sides of the dish :). It was so fantastic that I wanted to cry.

The cake’s crust is graham crackers + butter + cinnamon. The filling is a whole lot of cream cheese + melted chocolate + coffee + sour cream + vanilla + almond extracts + baking soda, powder and salt. And the topping is chocolate ganache. Can it be more chocolatey? Highly rich, sinfully decadent. I loved the mocha flavor. But thank God there were about 13 of us to share all the calories and be content with a small slice of the cake :). 

 

Lessons Learned:
I did learn a few lessons though. I was surprisingly not daunted by making a cheescake, for I trusted Ina and her recipes so completely and blindly! I followed every step carefully, but still forgot to add ½ teaspoon of Kosher salt. I don’t think it dramatically changed the cake. But, what did happen was - the top of the cake cracked a lot. Apparently, this is a common problem with cheesecakes due to uneven heating of the pan. So I’m guessing my spring-form pan wasn’t that great. But to avoid such cracking, experts advise that the cheesecake be baked in a tray of lukewarm water to ensure even cooking. It’s called a water bath. I was so disappointed that Ina missed out this crucial step, and couldn’t stop sighing at how perfect her cake was in comparison to mine! But oh well, next time I’ll try the water-bath. And perhaps place the pan on the second rack in the oven - a little away from the heat. Due to the cracking, I had to add the chocolate ganache on top. I was initially thinking of eliminating this extra dose of chocolate, but the cracking forced me to cover it all up with yummy chocolate.

Secondly, I didn’t particularly care for the cinnamon in the crust. I just wanted chocolate and coffee flavors, and the cinnamon was distracting. I would skip the cinnamon the next time. But on the whole, this is a great recipe!