Chocolate Cheesecake

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Learn how to make the best chocolate cheesecake with this easy recipe made with sour cream, dark chocolate, and cocoa powder to yield a creamy dark chocolate cheesecake with an incredible flavour! The cheesecake is baked in a water bath to ensure it bakes smooth and flat, with no cracks on the surface.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 35

Chill time4

Total Time6 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 560kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

Baked Oreo Cookie Crust For 9-inch Cheesecakes

190 grams Oreo cookies about 16 cookies
0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
58 grams unsalted butter melted

Chocolate Cheesecake Filling

750 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular) use the block kind (see note), softened
250 grams granulated sugar
250 mL sour cream (14% fat)
24 grams cocoa powder
4 large egg(s)
175 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) melted and cooled
1.75 L boiling water to create the water bath in the roasting pan

Metric - US

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Boil a full kettle of water (1.75–2 L).
In a food processor bowl fitted with the metal S-blade, combine the Oreo cookies and salt. Pulse them together until you end up with a fine crumb.
Pour the melted butter over top and pulse the mixture again until all the ingredients are moistened and the mixture begins to clump.
Transfer the crust mixture to your prepared pan and spread it out from edge to edge in an even layer, flattening and pressing it out with a flat-bottomed glass to create a smooth, tight crust.
Bake the crust until the edges until set (10–15 minutes). You know it's done when you can smell it! Take the crust out of the oven and let it cool.
Drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C).
Wrap the outside of the cheesecake pan in three layers of wide heavy duty foil so that it is well protected.
Prepare the cheesecake filling by creaming the blocks of cream cheese together until smooth and creamy, then mix in the sugar, followed by the sour cream and cocoa powder.
Mix in the eggs, one at a time, only adding the next egg when the previous one has been completely incorporated.
Stir in the melted chocolate.
Strain the filling to remove any lumps if necessary, then pour it over your baked cheesecake crust. Smooth the surface of the cheesecake with a mini offset spatula.
Place the foil-wrapped cheesecake pan in the roasting pan and pour water in the roasting pan (making sure to avoid splashing the cheesecake filling!). Fill with enough water to come halfway up the cheesecake pan.
Place the roasting pan in the oven, carefully, and bake the cheesecake until set but the centre remains a little jiggly (this takes about 75 minutes for me).
Turn the oven off when the cheesecake is done baking and prop the oven door slightly to allow the oven to slowly cool down. Leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door propped open for about 2 hours to cool completely.
Take the cheesecake out of the water bath and transfer it to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, if not overnight, before slicing and serving.
Warm a large knife under very hot water and dry it off to cleanly slice the cheesecake. Clean the knife between cuts, rewarming it as needed so that the filling doesn't stick to the knife too much.

Notes

For the crust, I use whole Oreos (filling and all) because Nabisco and Mr. Christie chocolate wafers have been discontinued. If you prefer, you can make a graham cracker crumb crust or if you still have access to chocolate wafers, you can also use the graham crust recipe (you can use most dry cookies/biscuits for the crumbs for the graham cracker crust recipe, like speculoos cookies, chocolate wafer crumbs (Oreo crumbs), or even social tea biscuits).
This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
For the cream cheese, use full-fat cream cheese sold in block form. Do not use whipped, light, or spreadable cream cheese as these products may have more water or fat.
Use a water bath made with a roasting pan and boiling water to bake the cheesecake. Make sure to wrap the springform pan in three layers of aluminum foil to prevent water from seeping into the pan and to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Alternatively, you could use a 9-inch round cake pan with 3-inch sides, making sure to line the bottom with parchment paper. You will have to flip the cheesecake onto a parchment paper-lined board, upside-down, to get it out of the pan, which may ruin the smooth finish on top.
Use heavy-duty wide foil (18 inches wide) to wrap the springform pan and prevent any water from leaking in and ruining the crust.
For the cocoa whipped cream: I whipped 250 mL (1 cup) of 35 % whipping cream until soft peaks form, then I mixed in 25 grams of icing sugar and 15 grams of sifted cocoa powder. This gives a mildly chocolaty whipped cream that is quite stable and a nice complement to the dark chocolate cheesecake.

Nutrition