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04/03/2002 Archived Entry: "Chocolate Cheesecake"

Lately, I’ve been sorting through the many hundreds of cookbooks at my house in Connecticut. I’m selling off a good part of my collection at an upcoming tag sale at à la carte cooking school in Lynbrook, Long Island. It’s on Sunday, April 14th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The prices are very, very cheap. Most books are $3 to $5, many are even less. I have lots of paperbacks for 50 cents and $1. There are some beautiful books I’ve priced from $6 to $12, and I’ll autograph any of those if you like. If you buy more than $10 worth all together, I’ll autograph one of those, too.

At any rate, I keep running across recipes in some of these books that remind me of why I kept them all these years. I had the following recipe bookmarked because it is for the only chocolate cheesecake I have ever liked. I know that sounds strange, not to like chocolate cheesecake. Indeed, I make that fact the punch line of a joke. When someone asks me if there are any foods I won’t eat, I answer, “Yes, Chinese sea slugs and chocolate cheesecake.”

This incredibly delicious version of chocolate cheesecake comes from a book called California Kosher, a cookbook compiled by the Women’s League of Arat Ari El Synagogue in North Hollywood, CA. And although you can buy this cookbook online at Amazon by clicking on the hyper-linked title, wouldn’t it be more fun (and cheaper) to have my old copy? See you in Lynbrook.

Arthur’s Book and Tag Sale
Sunday, April 14th, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
à la carte
32 Atlantic Avenue
Lynbrook, New York, (516) 599-2922
You can call for directions, but Atlantic Ave. is easy to find. It’s walking distance from the LIRR station, one block north of Sunrise Highway.


Dark Chocolate Cheesecake
Submitted by Jerry Caplan
Makes one 9-inch cheesecake, serving 12-14 people

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3/4 cup crushed walnuts

For the cheesecake:
5 ounces dark semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, nutmeg, ginger and walnuts together and press the mixture onto the bottom and partly up the sides of a greased 9-inch baking dish, pie plate, or spring form pan.

Smooth the mixture along the bottom to even the thickness. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool before pouring in the filling.

To make the cheesecake filling:
Reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth and light. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Stir in the melted chocolate, sour cream and blend well. Pour the mixture into the baked and cooled pie crust and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow cake to cool completely in the oven.