Valrhona Chocolate Cheesecake

I have always wanted to try making a chocolate cheesecake. Frankly speaking it is really not that common here, I rarely see it selling in stores or restaurants (me = country pumpkin?!). I remember eating it once when I was back in California where I bought in Costco near my place. I remember placing it in the freezer and when I want a slice, I let it stand for 30 minutes at room temperature I will have a rich, satisfying and delicious desert! And since my last trip back to Singapore, I have replenished my Valrhona chocolate supply. (Yippee!) There is really no reason why I don't get in the kitchen and whip up a rich, decadent, Valrhona Chocolate Cheesecake today! ;P

I did my research and reading which I finally came up with my own recipe of a chocolate cheese cake. The result was superb! Bare in mind that you can use any quality chocolate you have in your pantry, using Valrhona is not monetary here. ;) So here it is:

Ingredients for Chocolate Cheesecake (12cm round cake pan):
75g Oreo Cookies (minus the creme), crushed
35g unsalted butter
250g cream cheese, room temperature
75g caster sugar
1 large egg
50g Valrhona Chocolate (66% cocoa), chopped
50ml heavy cream
20g Valrhona cocoa powder

Decoration Topping (optional):
1/2tsp confectioner's sugar
1tsp Valrhrona cocoa powder

Method:

• Melt the butter and mix together to the crushed oreo cookies. Press the mixture into the cake pan base which has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Set aside till needed.
  
• Heat up the heavy cream in double boiler till bubbly. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir till smooth and set aside till needed.
• Preheat the oven to 160°C. Pour some water to the base of the baking tray to create a water-bath. Wrap the base of the cake pan with aluminum foil to protect the water from sipping in.
  
• In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar till fluffy. Add the egg and beat again till combined.
• Add chocolate mixture and stir well. Lastly, sift in the cocoa powder and combine till mixture is smooth.
• Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared cake pan with the cookie base. Bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Making sure not to over bake, the center of the cake should still be a little "wobbly" when done.
• Remove from oven and let cool completely before refrigerating. Chill for at least 4 to 6 hrs before serving.
  

Most of the recipes called for cake flour, but I wanted a deeper chocolate taste to it, so I opted to use cocoa powder instead. I was really glad I did, because it really enhanced the chocolaty taste and satisfy any form of chocolate craving. ;)

You can see that my oven's heat is not evenly distributed...the lower part of the cake looks less "firm" then the top part. But I guess a little refrigeration will do the trick. The oreo cookie base goes really well with the rich creamy cheese topping....goodie!Taste wise...~heavenly~, wished I had made a bigger cake! I could freeze it like I did last time and it can last even longer! But judging from the feedback from my family...I doubt this cake can last that long..it's probably gone by tomorrow, haha!
BTW, I am so happy that Firefox now is able to display my editing icons when I'm blogging, yip-yip-horray!