Stripey Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake....

I've made this dessert many times and I'm often asked for the recipe. Littlest Shepherd asked for it for his birthday tea so I took the opportunity to blog it. It's a Baked Stripey Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake, it's completley delicious, very calorific and fairly easy to make. This recipe serves 12 (or less :/)

You will need:
tin: 9 inch springform tin

for the base:
225g digestive biscuits- crushed
3 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs light brown soft sugar
90g butter, melted

For the filling:
750g cream cheese- full fat or it won't set well
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs
150g plain chocolate melted with 50ml water
2 tsp vanilla extract

preheat the oven to 180C
In a bowl mix together the crushed biscuits, cocoa and sugar. Pour over the melted butter and mix well with a fork. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the base of the tin. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Turn the oven down to 160C

Carefully grease the tin without disturbing the base - no need to fuss I often forget to do this, all will be well :)

For the filling:

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Continue beating while adding the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just enough to combine.

Split the mixture between two bowls. Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract to each mixture. Add the melted chocolate to one mixture and mix well.

Pour just less than half of the light mixture into the centre of the tin. Tilt the tin so that the mixture makes an even layer covering the biscuit base.

Carefully pour just less than half of the chocolate mixture into the centre of the tin and let it spread gently for a moment, no need to tilt the tin.

Alternate the layers using about half of the mixture each time.

Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven (this helps to prevent the cheesecake cracking too much) and the cheesecake on the rack above. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the cake is just set. It will firm up more as it cools.
Cool on a wire rack until cool then run a knife around the edge of the cake to help it release from the tin. Remove the side of the tin. Chill the cheesecake until cold. Serve at room temperature.

Next time we are going to try adding a wee bit of chilli to the chocolate mixture. Or maybe a little orange zest. Any other ideas?