Just Desserts

     Our Christmas Dinner was a huge success I'm happy to say.  I experimented with some new recipes and they all worked.  The creamed spinach with parsnips was a wintertime delight.  But the star of the show was dessert, a Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake. 

     I tweaked the recipe just a tad in that I did not make my own graham cracker crust and neither did I bake it in a spring form pan as recommended.  Instead I used a "cheater" ready made store bought graham cracker pie crust, thus altering the shape of the dessert from a true cheese cake to a cheese pie.  But the end result was still the same, a delightful and incredibly rich tasting chocolate dessert.

     Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

 

2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped                          1 egg

24 oz 1% cottage cheese                                             2 egg whites

8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened                   2 tsp instant espresso powder

3/4 cup granulated sugar                                          2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder                          fresh raspberries

2 Tbsp all purpose flour                                              mint springs

 

Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.  Put a small roasting pan on the lower rack and fill about 1/3 full of water.  Preheat oven to 325 F.

 

Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on medium power until soft and melted, about 1 minute, depending on the power of the oven.  Stir until smooth.  Puree the cottage cheese in a food processor until smooth.  Add the cream cheese, sugar, cocoa, and flour and continue to puree, scraping down the sides of the bowl until smooth.  Add the egg, egg whites, espresso, and vanilla and puree until incorporated.  Add the melted chocolate and pulse until just combined.  Pour into prepared crust.

 

Place onto the upper rack of the oven and bake until set and the center jiggles slightly, about 50 to 55 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let stand in the oven for 1 hour.  Remove the cheesecake to a cooling rack.  Let stand at room temperature until cooled, about 2 hours, then refrigerate until well chilled, 8 hours or overnight.  Let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour before serving.  For easier serving, slice with a clean hot knife, wiped clean after each slice.  Serve with a few fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint.