Christy loves all things sugar, but especially pies, cakes and tarts. She blogs about those and more on My Invisible Crown. She adores cheesecake most of all, so if you do too, you'll definitely want to see more from our Cheesecake Fanatic.
Hiya! I'm Christy from the blog My Invisible Crown. It's so nice to meet you! I'm your new cheesecake girl but you'll also see lots of pies and tarts, too. I'm a serious sugar addict so pretty much anything goes with me in regards to desserts. Over on MIC I share most everything that I cook for my family with my readers.
I try to choose foods that are in season so we can work with the freshest ingredients available at the time. I've even started compiling a monthly post that lists what's in season for each month. I enjoy making different foods that aren't difficult and I do my best to help my readers learn to customize recipes so that it's all their own. Come take a poke around and let me know what you find interesting.
I bet you didn't know that hot chocolate powder can be substituted for cocoa powder? You do have to be careful with the amount of sugar you use and adjust accordingly but it really is pretty cool. Most hot chocolate mix is just cocoa powder with sugar added, although some are flavored in a distinct way... that's when it gets fun!
I've been making baked goods using hot chocolate mix for a long time. Last year I shared this Hot Chocolate Pound Cake on my blog and it was a big hit so when I was thinking about what my first post for Food Fanatic would be it was almost a no-brainer.
This is such a different recipe I knew I had to share. It's also a recipe you can customize for your family. You see that's one of the things I focus on with My Invisible Crown. Sharing customizable recipes with my readers.
When I was a young cook I would look at a recipe and if it listed an ingredient that I didn't have or didn't like I would immediately discard it and move on. Now I know better and make sure that with every recipe I post on my site that I list substitutions that would work well. Now, that doesn't completely apply here since I'm not giving additional suggestions but I wanted to point out that you could use many different kinds of FLAVORED hot chocolate mix and make this Hot Chocolate Cheesecake all your own!
What flavor will YOU use? Caramel, marshmallow, raspberry or just plain old original? It's your recipe so knock yourself out!
- 20 oreos, or other chocolate wafer sandwich cookies
- 1 stick butter, divided and half melted plus more to grease pan
- 32 ounces cream cheese, 4 8 oz bars, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup hot cocoa mix
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, mini
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch of salt
- miniature marshmallows, for topping, optional
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Brush springform pan using a pastry brush with softened butter and set aside.
- Place sandwich cookies in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they become fine crumbs. Drizzle in 4 tablespoons butter and pulse a few more times to mix. Pour crumbs into springform pan and press along the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form a crust. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add sugar and continue beating another minute. Add hot chocolate powder and blend just until combined.
- With the mixer on low add eggs, one at a time beating only until the yellow disappears.
- Blend in vanilla and turn off mixer.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips, remaining 4 tablespoons butter, corn syrup, cream and salt and microwave in 30 minute increments until smooth stirring after each.
- Once the chocolate ganache is nice and smooth add 4 tablespoons to the cream cheese batter and mix on low just until incorporated.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared crust, wrap springform pan on the bottom and up the sides with foil to prevent leakage and place in a baking dish with sides. Pour hot water into the baking dish so that it reaches half way up the sides of the springform pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cheesecake comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Using remaining chocolate ganache (reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds if needed) pour onto the top of the cheesecake in a circle leaving about an inch border all the way around.
- Garnish with tiny marshmallows if desired. May be served warm or chilled.
Notes
One quick note. I don't normally use corn syrup in my recipes but I wanted this chocolate ganache topping to be glossy in appearance and also to stay pliable and not get hard and this is how I decided to accomplish that.