Chocolate Irish Cream Truffle Cheesecake

Chocolate Irish Cream Truffle Cheesecake

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day here in Newfoundland, which for many of us means the beginning of a long weekend. Such are the perks of continuing to celebrate our proud Irish heritage in this province.We are kicking off the holiday weekend with some "sips n' nibbles" with friends this evening where we will enjoy some roasted red pepper hummus, apple walnut and brie phyllo bundles, chicken souvlaki and lemon mint tzatsiki on homemade flatbread and as the closer for the evening, this fantastic Chocolate Irish Cream Truffle Cheesecake using plenty of that great Irish tipple in both the cheesecake and in the truffle garnish.

To perfectly bake a cheesecake, I have come to insist on a low oven temperature and baking the dessert in a bain marie.

A word about baking a cheesecake in a bain marie before starting the recipe. A bain marie is simply a water bath that buffers the direct heat from the sides and bottom of the baking pan to more evenly bake the cheesecake from the sides to the center.

I bake my cheesecakes in a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan that has the bottom and sides wrapped in multiple layers of wide heavy duty aluminum foil which forms a sort of boat that the cheesecake pan sits in. The roll of aluminum foil that I use is about 16 inches wide. I use at least 4 layers of foil to make sure that no water leaks in and ruins the crust of my cheesecake. The aluminum foil wrapped pan is then placed inside a larger baking pan; I use a 12 inch cake pan. Boiling water is then poured into the larger pan filling it from 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the top.

I find it best to pour the boiling water into the pan after it is placed on the rack in the oven as you are less likely to splash water onto the cheesecake or inside the aluminum foil. I reuse the aluminum foil for several future cheesecakes, adding a couple of layers to it each time just to be safe..

Grease bottom but not sides of a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan. I like to line the bottom with parchment paper for easy removal from the pan.

Even if you are not going to use the bain marie method, it's still a good idea to wrap the outside of the pan in a few layers of aluminum foil to help buffer the heat and bake the cheesecake more evenly.

Mix together and press into pan :

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (or digestive biscuit crumbs)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 tbsp sugar

Cream together:

• 1 ½ pounds cream cheese ( 3 eight ounce blocks)
• 1 ¼ cups sugar

Add, one at a time:

• 3 eggs

Then add

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend until smooth and divide mixture into 2 equal portions. (about 3 1/2 cups each)

To the first half of the mixture, blend in:

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 rounded tbsp good quality cocoa, sifted

Pour evenly into bottom of prepared springform pan.

To the second half of the cheesecake batter blend in

• 4 ounces Irish Cream liqueur

Carefully spoon the Irish Cream cheesecake batter over the top of the chocolate mixture already in the pan.

Bake in a bain marie (water bath) at 300 degrees F for about 55 minutes to an hour or until the surface of the cake no longer looks glossy. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan for at least an hour before chilling to completely cold in the fridge.

Remove from pan and garnish with shards of Irish Cream truffles.

• 1 cup chopped chocolate (or good quality chocolate chips with a minimum 50% cocoa content)
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/4 cup Irish Cream Liqueur

Melt together slowly in a double boiler and pour into a parchment lined loaf pan. Cool thoroughly. at this point you can cut the truffles into small squares or use a melon baller to make round truffles for garnish. Dust the truffle balls or squares in good quality cocoa before garnishing. Alternatively you can use a large sharp to chop the truffles into irregular shards to use as garnish.