Chocolate Chip Tiramisu Cheesecake

For my hubby's birthday I told him to pick out a cake..any cake he wanted me to make. He saw this as an opportunity to broaden my cooking horizons and requested a Tiramisu Cheesecake. I have always been very intimidated by the idea of making cheesecake. I mean The Cheescake Factory has set a pretty high standard and I'm good with letting them do all the cheesecake baking! So...I fought the urge to call in an order and found a recipe. I will say some of the ingredients can be hard to find. Luckily we have a Central Market in Fort Worth that had everything I needed! I woke up early Saturday morning to start my little cheesecake adventure. First thing I had to do was use our food processesor...which I had to dust off since I have NEVER used it before. Don't worry that I spent 30 minutes reading the manuel and watching the "How To" DVD just to figure out how to put the darn blade on! Anyways, it turns out that cheesecake really isn't too difficult to make...especially if you know how to use your food processor. It didn't neccesarily taste like tiramisu however was very good. It has a hint of espresso in the crust which makes it a little tiramisuish. All that to say if you love chocolate, cheesecake, and coffee you will LOVE this dessert. Thank you Rachael Ray for this one and Happy Birthday Tim!

Chocolate Chip Tiramisu Cheesecake

Adapted from Rachel Ray

One 7-ounce package crisp Italian-Stye ladyfingers, coarsley chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup marscapone cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room termperature
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon cooking oil (any kind)
Boiling water

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Using a food processor, grind the ladyfingers into fine crumbs. Add a hand full of chocolate chips and grind into the ladyfingers. Add the melted butter and instant espresso and pulse until well blended. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press to form a crust halfway up the side of the pan. Bake until set, 8 to 10 minutes; let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the sugar at high speed until smooth. Beat in the mascarpone, vanilla and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips.
4. Set the springform pan in a roasting pan. Pour the mascarpone-chocolate chip mixture into the baked crust, then place the roasting pan in the oven. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the top is golden and the center is set but still jiggly, about 1 hour. Let cool in the roasting pan for 15 minutes then transfer to rack to cool completely (don't remove from springform pan). Refrigerate for 6 hours or up to 2 days. Remove the cheesecake from the springform pan. In a small microwave safe bowl melt the remaining chocolate chips plus one teaspoon oil, stirring until smooth. Transfer the chocolate into a resealable plastic bag. Snip the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.

Things I learned:
- placing the cheescake in boiling water while baking prevents it from cracking. My oven of course is so small a roasting pan won't fit in it so I just put a casserole dish in the rack under the cheesecake with boiling water which seemed to work
- instant espresso and instant coffee are not the same thing
- if you can't find ladyfingers at the grocery store, try a bakery
- if you mix cream cheese on too low of speed is the cream cheese gets stuck in the metal whisks
- Cheesecake really isn't too hard to make!

-Brittany