Chocolate Swirl Baked Cheesecake has kind of built up this rep of being one of thee most delicious things I make in my Artisan Home-Bakery. And I humbly, completely agree.
I don’t necessarily see it as MY super creation. It just kind of happened that this recipe picked me as a friend and I SO LOVE this friend!
Completely objectively speaking – this chocolate swirl cheesecake has changed my life. It is SO FREAKIN GOOOOOD!
The Story Behind My Chocolate Swirl Baked Cheesecake
My late sister (Leaan) is generally acknowledged to be one of the rad-est human beings to have ever existed.
One weekend my husband was out of town. By now she knew full well that I would spend the entire weekend indoors… working or playing computer games. Leaan had a grand plan up her sleeve though!
She arrived at our home at 10h00, unannounced, and politely informed me that she was kidnapping me for the day!She took me to this incredible vintage store & restaurant called“Boere Sjiek” which means “Farmers Chic” in Afrikaans.
AND, of course, there was the most beautifully festive cake display in history!! Tall layer cakes decorated with fresh roses, tarts, cupcakes, pastries, quiches etc. I was gawking at everything like a 5-year-old!
After oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over all the beauty, we sat down to enjoy some cake. We shared something savoury and something sweet – going halfsies is how we roll! Best of both worlds.
Our dessert selection was the Oreo Cheesecake. Oreo cookie crust, with marbled baked cheesecake and ganache on top. It was fantastic!!
It took about 2 months of reminiscing before I decided I had to eat this cheesecake again. I would definitely try and make it myself this time around though…
Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Development
As much as I love Oreos, the added icing from the cookies in the crust makes it a tad too sweet for me. As you know I’m very partial to balance in baked goods. Dominant flavour, not sweetness. For this reason, I opted for my favourite chocolate cheesecake pastry instead of crushed Oreos.
The baked cheesecake part is my own Baked Vanilla Cheesecake of which some is turned into chocolate cheesecake and marbled together.
The ganache topping, I made with Dark Couverture Chocolate from Cocoafair – my favourite local Chocolaterie. The Dark Chocolate ganache is less sweet and more chocolaty 😊 A contrasting, white chocolate drizzle completes the look of the Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake beautifully.
So, How Does It Taste?
For a completely objective opinion, I’ll share a Google Review from one of my clients, Silke Rittershaus:
“We all agreed, this is the best cheesecake we ever had.My husband and his friend normally don’t eat dessert. But from the Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake both of them eat even two slices!With every bite, you indulge yourself. The cheesecake is moist and very creamy and the chocolate crust fits perfectly to this cheesecake. The taste of the whole composition is incredibly delicious. It’s really hard to stop eating, you just want to have more of this heavenly treat.”
Silke’s husband, Axel, was kind enough to send me the photo a cheesecake slice! Just look at that creamy, dreamy texture… Yummmm…
After all of this, I hope you are convinced that you should make this Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake!
The only advice I would give is that you READ MYPERFECT CHEESECAKE GUIDEFIRST, before diving into the recipe! These tips will prep you for making your own flawless Baked Cheesecake.
MyPerfect Cheesecake Guidecovers all the essential tips you need to avoid any cracks, curdling, sinking etc. I also discuss an alternative method to the traditional (and indiscreetly tedious) water bath baking method. Open it in a separate tab and give it a read. Remember, method determines at least 50% of the quality of your bake! Method matters.
Without further ado, here is the recipe for one of the gems of my Artisan Home-Bakery (Philosophy of Yum)…
5.0 from 1 reviews
Chocolate Swirl Baked Cheesecake
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Philosophy of Yum
Serves: 9 inch Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTRY:
- 195 g All-Purpose Flour
- 35 g Cocoa Powder
- 75 g Pure Icing Sugar
- pinch of salt
- 130 g Salted Butter, ice cold & cubed
- 50 g Egg Yolks (about 2 ½ egg yolks)
- ½ Tbsp Vanilla Extract
FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
- 1000 g Medium Fat Cream Cheese (25% fat), at room temperature
- 320 g White Sugar
- 5 g Salt
- 4 X-Large Eggs (240 g)
- 200 ml Sour Cream
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
- 1 Tbsp Water
FOR THE DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 110 g Whipping Cream
- 1 tsp White Sugar
- 90 g Dark Chocolate (at least 65% Cocoa Solids)
FOR DECORATION:
- 20 g White Chocolate
Instructions
FOR THE PASTRY:
- Follow instructions as specified in Cheesecake Pastry Post. Includes detailed instructions and photos! When you've finished blind baking the pastry, turn your oven down to 150°C/302°F.
FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
- Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium low speed till smooth.
- Add in the sugar and salt. Beat on medium low speed for 30 seconds. Leave to stand for 5 minutes and beat again till smooth.
- Scrape down the paddle, sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat again till smooth.
- From here on out ONLY mix on the lowest and slowest turtle speed possible. If your mixer doesn’t have the option to go very slow, then do the rest by hand.
- Crack all the eggs in a separate bowl. Stir lightly with a fork till the yolks are broken.
- Pour more or less 1 egg at a time into the cream cheese mixture with the mixer going on its slowest speed, or stir by hand. It is crucial to not whip in any air.
- Add the remaining egg in in 3 sessions. Don’t watch it the whole time, you will be SO tempted to increase the speed. It is a great opportunity to spend some time on Pinterest or learn a language on the Duo Lingo App (I’ve become 7% more fluent in French, just from cheesecake mixing time! Haha!).
- Before mixing in the last egg, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl thoroughly and mix again on lowest speed.
- Stir the sour cream and vanilla into the cheesecake batter by hand to avoid overmixing.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture into the semi-baked pastry base, but reserve about 1/7 of the mixture. Stir 2 tablespoons of sifted cocoa powder + 1 Tablespoon water into the left-over cheesecake mixture till fully combined. Smoosh out any cocoa lumps with the back of a spoon against the side of the bowl. You may stir this chocolate cheesecake mixture vigorously with a spoon!
- At this point, start boiling a full kettle of water.
- Dollop/pour the chocolate cheesecake mixture over the vanilla cheesecake mixture in the tin.
- With a chopstick, carefully make vertical circles in the cheesecake mixture (with wrist movement – like you are beating something with a balloon whisk) so that the 2 tones are marbled together slightly. Turn your tin as you go around the perimeter. I usually make one wide circle around the outside and one smaller circle inside it. To finish off, I swirl just the top surface again so it looks pretty.
- Place the cheesecake in the center of your oven. Fill the empty roasting tray with just boiled water. Bake for 1 hour at 150°C/302°F.
- Turn the cheesecake 180 degrees around in the oven. Bake for another 35 minutes. Switch off the oven with the cheesecake still inside and the door still closed.
- After 5 minutes, leave the oven door ajar. Leave the cheesecake inside for 1h30.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Transfer to the fridge and leave to cool overnight.
FOR THE GANACHE:
- The next morning you can decorate the cheesecake! There may be some condensation on the surface of the cheesecake; dab the surface with some paper towels to absorb the moisture.
- Heat the cream and tsp of sugar in a saucepan to simmering point. Pour it over the finely chopped chocolate. Leave to stand for 2 minutes, stir till smooth. Pour over the cheesecake immediately. Tilt the pan till the whole surface is covered in chocolate ganache. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, melt the 20 g of white chocolate in the microwave in a mug – 30 seconds at a time. Stir thoroughly every 30 seconds. Keep going till it is fully melted. Place a small plastic sandwich bag over a cup with one corner facing down. Transfer the melted chocolate into the sandwich bag. Aim for the bottom corner!
- Remove the cheesecake from the fridge. Snip a tiny bit of the end off the corner chocolate baggie. Drizzle over the cheesecake any way you like. I like circles.
- Carefully push up the bottom of the tin all around the cheesecake to loosen the sides. Place the cheesecake on top of the middle of a wide-bottomed mug or sturdy glass, gently pressing down the sides of the tin.
- Lift the bare sided cheesecake back onto your work surface. Slide a large, smooth edged knife under the pastry to loosen the cheesecake from the bottom of the tin. I like to go all around the edges first before attempting to loosen the center-bottom. Push the cheesecake gently, with a cupped hand, onto your cake stand/cake board/serving platter.
- Cut slices with a hot, dry knife. Enjoy!!!
If you’re into Cheesecake you’ll love these related posts:
Perfect Baked Cheesecake | The Ultimate Guide!
Cheesecake Pastry Recipe (with chocolate variation)
Perfect Vanilla Baked Cheesecake Recipe
Chat soon!
Aurelia
