Nancy's Best Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, very soft
1 egg yolk; lightly beaten
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Filling:
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp. butter

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter until well mixed. Add egg yolk and vanilla and blend thoroughly. Dust fingers with flour and pat dough onto bottom and about 1 up on sides of a 10-inch cheesecake pan. (I use a 10-inch Kaiser springform pan with non-stick finish.)

Filling:
Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl until smooth and creamy. Combine dry ingredients; stir into cream cheese mixture. Addeggs and beat just until combined (do not overbeat). Stir in the chocolate, sour cream and vanilla, mixing until combined. Pour into crust-lined pan. Bake in 325°F for 60-70 minutes or until center appears set or cracks. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes. Run spatula around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan, cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Top:
Melt semisweet chocolate and butter. Drizzle in lattice design on top cheesecake. Chill till trim sets.

Store in refrigerator.

Comments from N Dooley :

The crust can be used for any cheesecake; if it's used on a NewYork-style or plain cheesecake, I add 1 tsp. grated orange or lemon zest. Also, a chocolate crust can be used for the above filling: 1 1/2 C. finely crushed chocolate wafers mixed with 6 T. melted butter. Mix and pat into pan.

User Reviews:

I would recommend the chocolate wafer crust for this recipe. Make sure that when you check the cheescake for readiness, you insert the knife just outside the center or it will cook too long. I also found that cooking this cheescake in a gas oven is preferable to an electric (if you have the choice). Make this cheescake - it is the best I have tasted in a while. (One other thing - I would melt the chocolate chips in a pot and then ad them to the cream cheese - it just tastes better.)

Submitted by Ashley on November 03, 1998

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