Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake
I decided to wrap up my (official) tribute to mom with this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake – an indulgent treat that graced my mother’s holiday dessert table for many years and one that has always been a particular favorite of dad’s. I know I disrupted the flow a little with the French Silk Pie and Vanilla Bean Cajeta Goat Cheese Cheesecake, but I really wanted to make this particular recipe during the holidays. Mom always made it for the holidays so baking it for my holiday table felt like a way to be just a little closer to her this year.
Don’t worry – there will be many more of mom’s recipes appearing here on Chocoholic Anonymous as I continue exploring her baking legacy. But over the past six months, I have worked my way through all of the various cookies, pies, cakes and confections that family and friends called out as their favorite “mom- made” treats which was one of the primary goals of this tribute series. In the process, I had the opportunity to take an amazing (and emotional) journey down memory lane and uncovered new and interesting tidbits of the history behind some familiar favorites.
Cheesecake has been around, in one form or another, literally for centuries with recorded recipes dating back to ancient Greece and Rome. However, it wasn’t until the mid 20th century that we start to see the indulgent, over the top variations that incorporate additional sweet elements for flavor and texture – like this chocolate chunk version. Chocolate cheesecakes probably began appearing sometime in the 1950s with popularity increasing through the ’70s and ’80s. From what I could find, this particular recipe is most likely from the late 1990’s or early 2000s. Food.com has a “Decadent Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake” post that is nearly identical to the one on mom’s recipe card, and the poster cites Kraft Food and Family Magazine as the original source (the poster also notes that the recipe can be found online at either the Kraft or Nabisco sites, but sadly, this appears to no longer be the case).
This timeline jives well with my own memories. I don’t recall mom ever making it before I went away to college, but I do remember it showing up every Christmas after that – one of several over-the-top, decadent cheesecakes she would prepare for the holiday table. There were always so many dessert options, and I always wanted to sample every single one, so I would ask mom to cut the tiniest slivers imaginable. Eventually, mom told me that if I wanted pieces that small, I would have to cut them myself. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective 😉), all those decadent cheesecakes were so packed with chunks of goodies in the filling it is nearly impossible to cut truly tiny slivers, so I always ended up with a bit more dessert than I intended (not that I’m complaining, mind you!).
I think it was while helping mom with the crust for either this cheesecake, or perhaps her Snicker’s Cheesecake recipe (yes, we’ll be revisiting that recipe too!), that I learned not to be too heavy-handed with pressing a crumb crust into the pan. One year I arrived early enough to help with some of the holiday baking and she asked me to make the Oreo crusts for a couple of her cheesecakes. I crushed the Oreos, stirred in the butter and pressed the mixture firmly into the pans making sure everything was level and neat. Fast forward to Christmas evening: mom tried to cut a slice from one of the cheesecakes – and tried and tried. Even leaning her full weight and all her strength into the knife she couldn’t get through that bottom crust! Thankfully the filling was still delicious and the upper edge of the crust was salvageable, so we enjoyed the cheesecake with just a bite or two of crust. I don’t know for certain that there wasn’t something else I messed up in that crust, but mom always said that I pressed it too firmly into the pan. Ever since then, I’ve been very careful to use just enough pressure to bring the crust together, even if it doesn’t look quite as perfect in the pan.
Sharing this recipe feels like placing one more piece of mom’s legacy into the world. I’m honored to keep baking my way through the stories she left behind as well as continuing to explore new baking adventures that can’t help but be shaped by the traditions she both carried forward and the ones she began.
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine cookies and butter until the mixture starts to clump together. Press the mixture firmly into bottom of a 9″ spring-form pan.18 Oreo cookies, 1/4 cup (60 ml) butter
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy without any lumps of cream cheese.32 oz (907 g) cream cheese, 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- Add the sour cream and mix well.3/4 cup (180 ml) sour cream
- Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each, just until blended.4 eggs
- Stir the chocolate chunks into batter. Pour the batter over cooled crust. (Optional: put the pan in a silicone cheesecake wrap and place it into a water bath for baking)8 oz (227 g) semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is almost set. Turn off the oven, leaving the cheesecake inside for another hour to cool slowly (this help prevent sinking and cracking as the cake cools)
- Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the side of pan to loosen the cake from the sides. Cool completely and remove the side of pan.
- Bring the cream to simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from heat and add the chocolate chunks. Let the mixture sit for a minute or two, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Cool slightly before pouring over the cheesecake and spreading out to the edges. Refrigerate the cake overnight before serving.6 oz (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chunks, 3/4 cup (180 ml) whipping cream
Notes
- Mom generally did not pre-bake the cheesecake crusts, but I almost always do – I like the crisper texture in contrast to the creamy filling. You can feel free to skip pre-baking the crust if you like.
- The original recipe says the cake should bake at 350°F – I’m not certain whether mom used this temperature or not, but I find that it is too hot, the top of the cake gets too dark before the filling is cooked sufficiently to set properly when chilled. Reducing the temperature to 300°F solves this issue.
- I know that mom did not typically use water baths for her cheesecakes, but I prefer to use a water bath as it helps regulate the temperature resulting in a more even bake, and a smoother, more level surface. You can use either method for this recipe. Baking time may be a bit longer in a water bath, just keep checking for the set edges and slight wobble in the middle that indicates the cake is done.
- Mom liked a tall cheesecake – the original recipe called for only 24 oz of cream cheese, this makes for a fairly low cheesecake in a 9″ pan, so I adjusted the recipe to use 32 oz of cream cheese. If you’d like to use the original recipe proportions, it is 3/4 of the recipe as I’ve presented it here – in the 9″ pan you’ll get a low cheesecake, or you can opt for a 7″ pan for a smaller version of the tall cheesecake.
- Mom always liked a good thick layer of ganache, so I adjusted the topping to 1 1/2 times the original recipe.Â
Private Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!More recipes you might enjoy:
About The Author
