Announcements

There are two announcements here:

1. If anyone wants to write for Chicken Soup, please feel free to contact Raksha Bharadia at rakshabharadia@gmail.com

2. Here`s the recipe as promised.

And no, I`m not turning into a food blogger. This is just a stop-gap, for lack of interesting topics to blog about! So here goes!

Ingredients for the crust:
-2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs(just grind the cookies to a fine powder, in a grinder).
-2 tablespoons butter, melted
-1/4 cup packed brown sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the filling:
- semi dark chocolate(I used Lindt 60% because that`s my favorite)
- 2 pounds cream cheese, softened( I used 4 8oz packs of Philadelphia cream cheese)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
- 16 ounces sour cream(one pack roughly)
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Combine 2 cups cookie crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; firmly press mixture evenly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 5 minutes; set aside.

# I used more than 2 cups because the thicker the crust, the more stable it is to handle the cake after it is done - or so I thought. It tastes good too.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/3 cup whipping cream, flour, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

3. Melt 8 ounces semisweet chocolate with 2 tablespoons whipping cream in a pan or bowl set over boiling water, stir until smooth. Add chocolate mixture to cream cheese mixture and blend well.

4. Pour 1/3 of batter into prepared pan. Top with chocolate chips thrown in evenly; pour in remaining batter.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 minutes. Remove cake from oven. Combine sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; spread evenly on cheesecake. Continue baking for 7 minutes. Turn oven off and leave in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake, and let cool completely on a wire rack.

# I used very little sour cream on top. You can infact skip it altogether. Especially if you use a 9inch pan instead of 10, you`ll not have enough space to pour the sour cream anyway.

6. Topping: Combine 1 cup whipping cream and chocolate chips in a saucepan; stir over low heat until chocolate melts, and then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour mixture over cheesecake while still warm. Refrigerate until serving time. Should be at least 8 hours for refrigerator time, remove about 1/2 hour to 1 hour before serving, remove ring from springform pan, decorate to choice and get out your fork!

That`s the recipe, People. May be I should start a food blog after all! :)