Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake with Triple Berry Sauce

My handsome hubby loves loves loves cheesecake! So for his birthday every year I indulge him (and me)! Can I just say that this cheesecake is so good that words just cannot describe it?! Hubs just about melted into his chair with the first bite last night (meanwhile I was doing my little success boogie dance because, if you know my laid back guy, he doesn't tend to express much reaction for anything... but that is another story. haha!) It is DIVINE!!!! You must try. While I was taking the pictures this morning both my toddler and my husband were hanging over my shoulder begging for a bite... it was 8am and we hadn't even had breakfast! Perhaps that was the problem. When a bite was finally snitched, it was declared even better the next day!

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
submitted by Brittany ~ The Sisterscafe

3/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (such as chocolate teddy grahams or chocolate grahams crackers)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp sugar
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (about 1 cup), melted
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
4 extra large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the cookie and graham cracker crumbs with butter and tablespoon of sugar. Mix well and press into the bottom and slightly up sides of 10-inch springform pan. Bake until crust is set - about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Increase oven temp to 450 degrees.
2. Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave on 50% power. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly. (not too much or chocolate will harden)
3. In bowl of electric mixer, whip the cream cheese. Add cup of sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract and beat until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after the addition of each and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
4. Place 1/3 of batter in a medium bowl and fold in the chocolate, mixing until smooth.
5. Pour half of plain cheesecake mixture into crust then alternate large dollops of chocolate mixture with plain cheesecake mixture. Using a thin knife, gently and slowly swirl the two mixtures together to create a marbleized effect. (don't overdo it!)
6. Create a water bath for the cheesecake by pouring 1 inch of water in a large enough baking pan to fit cheesecake pan. Wrap bottom of springform pan with tin foil to prevent water leaking in. (Baking a cheesecake in a water bath keeps the cake moist while baking and helps prevent cracking.)
7. Bake cheesecake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Decrease oven temp to 250 degrees and continue baking for 1 hour. Gently remove cheesecake from waterbath. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake inside oven for 1 hour. Run a sharp, warm knife around the edge to remove the rim. Wrap cheesecake tightly and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours) before serving.
8. To serve, slice with a long, sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped clean between slices. Serve with triple berry sauce and sweetened whipped cream, if desired.


Triple Berry Sauce

3 cups frozen berries (I use the Costco mix of raspberries, blueberries and marionberries

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp water

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup frozen or fresh berries

Place 3 cups of berries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until frozen berries are soft and sugar is melted (you don't need to add water). Puree berry mixture with a blender; replace in saucepan. Mix together water and cornstarch and stir into berry mixture. Add 1/2 cup of frozen berries and boil over medium heat until thick. Chill to serve.