MARBLE CHEESECAKE - The Richest!

A small nod to the hubby's coastal week-end!

This is a recipe winner from 1974's Austin American-Statesman's recipe contest.  It won for The Richest - Most Decadent, April 1974.  I clipped it and it has been a family favorite ever since.

My husband's birthday is next week and he will be out-of-town working.  He's here THIS week-end so we are declaring it the birthday week-end at home.  I said "I assumed a cheesecake would be your choice?"  He smiled and said "yep, sounds good"!

I looked around to see if there was another recipe I wanted to try - but I hadn't made this one in a couple of years so quickly picked it up and got started.  It is really a luscious cheesecake.  Rarely do I stick exactly to a recipe...but I do with this one!  I must have cut off whoever submitted it - but I wrote in pencil with a star next to it "Great Recipe". 

MARBLE CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar, divided
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup cream
2 ounces unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Combine cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the melted butter in a bowl. 

Crust ingredients

Press mixture in bottom and 1 3/4 inches up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside. (I always put foil around the outside of my springform when I use a butter crust.  I use a measuring cup to press the crumb mixture into the springform pan.)

Crust in the springform pan - and no, I didn't measure 1 3/4 inches up the side!

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy. 

24 ounces of softened cream cheese and the rest of the sugar - let the batter begin!

Nice and creamy - added vanilla after the sugar and cream cheese were mixed

Add eggs (one at a time), beating on low speed just until blended. 
Add cream; beat on low speed until blended.

Cream ready to be incorporated - be sure to do it on slow or you'll be wearing it!
So speaks the voice of experience :-)

Stir 1 1/2 cups batter into the melted cooled chocolate, stirring briskly until smooth.

I always think 2 ounces of chocolate isn't enough...but it is!

Keep stirring...it WILL come together!

Yum, chocolate cheesecake mixture

Pour half the plain mixture into the crust.

Oops, I added a bit more than half - not paying attention

Gradually pour in half the chocolate mixture, using a zig zag motion.
Pour the rest of the plain mixture over the chocolate mixture.
Drizzle the final bit of the chocolate mixture all over the top of the plain mixture.

These are going to be interesting layers - heavy on the bottom, heavy on the first chocolate
layer and then thin on the upper two.  Sometimes it just is the way it is!

Draw a knife or narrow metal spatula through the batter to marble the layers.

Pretty marbelized swirls - ready to bake!

Bake at 325 for 60 to 70 minutes or until the center appears nearly set when shaken.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack; loosen sides of pan.

Cooling on rack - hot out of the oven...smells great...looks pretty...yay!

Cool 30 minutes more on rack, then remove sides of pan.

Chill cake.
Note:  Typically, the top of this cheesecake may crack during cooling

Now, I have thought of using a water bath to reduce the risk of cracking, but...the last time I did that, my pan was not water-tight, even with the foil - my crust got sogged - and I can't begin to tell you how much I wanted to cry.  I never have done much of anything other than what the original recipe calls for since then (well, except for using semi-sweet chocolate from time to time - it calls for unsweetened chocolate...and it's my call to add the eggs one at a time - seems right so that's what I do).  I had a few small cracks, some bubbles - but overall, it looked quite lovely!

I have served it with chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate shavings...but my family is just fine with a big old slab of this cheesecake....just the way it is!  Half the cake is now gone (as I conclude this post) and the best words of appreciation were "honey, you could sell this cheesecake!"...and he got the same reply I always give..."that sounds like work - NO THANKS!"

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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