Cheesecake Challenge #8: Cafe de Leche Cheesecake

Yesterday's experiment was Cafe de Leche cheesecake from The Spiced Life, which looks so pretty in the picture I didn't bother taking one of my own (it wasn't holding it's shape well when cut and it was disappearing into the belly quickly, so I figured this picture would do):

From The Spiced Life

Jackpot!

Here's the story: we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Olive Garden does happen to have a very good Tiramisu. And often my mom gets it. But this time, she didn't, because we had this cheesecake at home waiting for us. And the best part? It's almost kind of like a creamy, cheesecaky version of Tiramisu. Slightly different, but similar flavors. Super creamy. Espresso. Caramel. Chocolate.

I love this cheesecake. It's DELISH.

Cafe de Leche Cheesecake
from The Spiced Life

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups Chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. Cocoa Powder
8 Tbsp. Melted, unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Coffee Cheesecake:
16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 tsp. Instant Espresso

Caramel and Ganache Layer:
1 can Dulce de Leche (made with milk)
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
6-8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients and press into a 9" spring-form pan. Cover pan in 4 layers of foil.
2. Combine cream cheese and mascarpone, beating until blended. Add sugar, then eggs, one at a time.
3. Microwave 1/4 cup of cream in small bowl until hot and whisk in espresso powder. Let cool to tepid.
4. Add espresso mixture, cream, vanilla, and lemon juice to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Pour batter into crust and place in water bath. Bake 45-55 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting for 1 hour when done. Allow to finish cooling on counter, then chill overnight.
6. Heat up the dulce de leche so it is pourable, and let cool to tepid. Pour over the cake and chill an hour.
7. Make the ganache by simmering the heavy cream and then adding the chocolate. Let cool to tepid and pour over the dulce de leche layer. Return to chill for 3 hours or until chocolate is set.

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte

Time out from the Cheesecake Challenge: I tried out another new recipe called the double chocolate mousse torte. I was looking for something chocolaty that didn't take quite as long as cheesecake. And something different and new, too. This is what I went for:

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

This cake was YUMMY! I loved how rich is was and also the creaminess of the mousse. But mostly I loved the flourless chocolate/torte like cake on the bottom. Super yum!

Anyway, without further adieu, here is the delicious recipe:

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

Cake:
8 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
5 large Eggs
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Flour

Mousse:
1/2 cup Butter
4 large Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
8 oz. chopped Semi-Sweet chocolate
1/2 cup Sugar

Topping: 
3/4 cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare 10" spring-form pan.
2. Melt cake chocolate and butter and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in sugar and then eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, salt and flour.
3. Pour into pan and bake until just rises at center (tester inserted will NOT come out clean), about 30-35 minutes. Cool completely and let chill while preparing mousse.
4. Melt mousse butter in bowl set over saucepan of simmering water. In separate bowl, whisk yolks, 1/4 cup cream, and vanilla and gradually add to melted butter. Whisk constantly for about 6 minutes.
5. Remove mixture from heat and add chocolate. Stir to melt.
6. In separate bowl, beat egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar with a pinch of cornstarch until medium-stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of mixture into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture.
7. Pour mousse over cooled cake and chill until set, about 6 hours.
8. Run sharp knife around edge to loosen and release torte. Beat 3/4 cup cream and powdered sugar in bowl until peaks form. Spread over the torte, garnish, and serve.

Cheesecake Challenge #7: Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake

This time I tried the Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake from Mel's Kitchen Cafe:

From Source

Wow. Yum. Delish. This one was a total hit and success. It is extremely rich, but that's how I like my chocolate. It turned out beautifully, too, but we'll get to that. This one is a 5 start, creamy, rich, chocolaty concoction:

And you know what else was wonderful about this cheesecake? Mine was actually quite pretty! We took it to dinner at a friend's house and they thought the cake was bought! That's always a compliment when it looks store-made pretty.

So here is the recipe for this awesomely chocolate cake:

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake:
(from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Ingredients:

Crust:
9 oz. chocolate cookie crumbs (like grahams)
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. melted butter

Cheesecake:
10 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
32 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
4 Large Eggs

Topping:
3/4 cup whipping cream
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9" Springform pan. mix the crust ingredients and press into bottom of pan only. Bake until set, about 5 minutes, and keep oven on.
2.  Melt the cheesecake chocolate and cool until lukewarm. In separate bowl, blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs one at a time and then add chocolate.
3. Pour cheesecake filling over crust and bake until just set, about 1 hour. Once cooled, chill overnight.
4. At least one hour before serving, heat topping ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Cool slightly and pour over cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Chill until set.
5. Allow cheesecake to stand 1-2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Cheesecake Challenge #6: Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake

This one was a success! Here is the source material:

From Handle the Heat

My husband loved it. He devoured it. I even took pictures, although it's not quite as lovely as the one above. My motivation is much more taste than appearance, though.

The taste was great--definitely had the coffee flavor--and the texture was jackpot. I finally got the texture down! I've decided it's very important to overly whip/beat the cream cheese in order to achieve that super creamy texture. Here is my cheesecake, in my new mini-springform:

Here's the recipe:

Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake


Crust:
9 oz. chocolate wafer cookies
1/2 cup melted butter

Ganache:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/4 lb. semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup Kahlua

Filling:
32 oz. softened cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 T flour
3 T instant espresso powder
1 T vanilla
2 tsp. molasses
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9" springform pan.
2. Grind chocolate cookies in food processor and mix with melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan and bake 7 minutes
3. Simmer whipping cream and then remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlua and stir until thick and smooth. Pour ganache over prepared crust and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve some ganache for the top, if desired.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar, then add flour, espresso powder, vanilla, and molasses. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Pour over cold ganache. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Allow to cool 3 hours and then chill overnight. As desired, use remaining chilled ganach as a garnish.

Cheesecake Challenge #5: Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

This time I tried out the Chocolate Espresso variety, from UseRealButter.com:

It turned out pretty good! I want to compare it to my mom's chocolate cheesecake recipe, which could possibly just use the espresso (she uses Amaretto), but it was tasty. Just needed more kick.

I didn't take a picture. It wasn't very pretty. I need to work on that....

Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake


24 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
4.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 T. Espresso Powder
1 T boiling Water
1 T Vanilla
1 T Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream cream cheese and sugar, and then add eggs one at a time until mixed.
2. Mix espresso and water. Continue to whisk/cream, and add cream, melted chocolate, espresso, vanilla, and Kahlua.
3. Pour into a prepared pan (with appropriate crust). Place in oven in water bath and bake for 45-55 minutes. Allow to cool in oven with oven off and then refrigerate overnight.