Hidden Treasure Cheesecake

Okay, I hate to admit it but I hate chocolate cheesecake. Me, the choco-holic! I was going to make my own personal favorite cheesecake yesterday, and realized I had an overabundance of cream cheese and not enough sour cream. What to do? Put a little chocolate in the mix and it will save anything ~ proven once again!

Hidden Treasure Cheesecake (Level 1)

Cheesecake:
4 8 ounce packages cream cheese at room temp
1 1/3 cup sugar substitute (I use Whey Low)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs at room temp
1/2 cup sour cream at room temp
1 1/2 cups chopped up SF semi-sweet chocolate

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan with Pam. Preheat oven to 325.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a bowl. Remove and let sit.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar substitute aand beat well for another 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and eggs, add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Then stir in the sour cream.

Pour out 1/3 of the batter into a separate bowl. Add the melted chocolate to this 1/3 of the cheesecake batter and combine.

Pour half of the plain cheesecake batter into the springform pan, spreading evenly over the crust. Pour the chocolate batter over the plain batter, creating a second layer. Be sure to pour it as evenly as possible over the bottom layer, as you do not want to mix the 2 layers. Then add the remaining plain cheesecake batter as the top layer, being sure it completely covers the chocolate layer.

Bake in a water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Then turn off the oven and leave it in the oven with the door shut for another hour. Pull out of oven and refrigerate overnight.

***You can add a cheesecake crust - it makes this a level 2 dessert:

Crust:
1/2 cup almond macaroon cookie crumbs
1/4 cup pecan meal
1/4 teaspoon cocoa powder
5 tablespoons melted butter

Mix the cookie crumbs, pecan meal, cocoa and melted butter in a bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Let cool.


Enjoy!
_________________
Foxye

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.