Ghirardelli Chocolate Orange Cheesecake Recipes

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter muffin cups.
• Grind wafers to a fine powder in a food processor.
• Mix together wafer crumbs, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl with a rubber spatula until combined well. Divide crumbs among muffin cups, then firmly press onto bottom and a little up side of each cup with your fingertips or with bottom of an 1/8-cup measure by twisting measure.
• Bake 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool in muffin pan 10 minutes. Gently rotate crusts with your fingertips to loosen and turn out onto rack.
• Beat together cream cheese, zest, and remaining brown sugar (3 tablespoons plus 1/3 teaspoon) with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks. Stir about one third of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until just combined.
• Mound filling into crusts with a spoon (or pipe filling into crusts with a pastry bag) and serve, or chill until ready to serve.

GHIRARDELLI LAYERED CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE WITH GANACHE GLAZE

Steps:

• Prepare the Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a medium bowl until well blended. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.
• Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes. Cool crust completely in pan on a wire rack, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Prepare the Cheesecake: Beat cream cheese with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and flour, beating until smooth. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed just until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
• Divide batter into 2 equal portions in separate medium bowls. Pour 1 portion into prepared crust; spread evenly.
• Place Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on medium (50% power) until melted and smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
• Stir together coffee liqueur and espresso granules in a small bowl until espresso dissolves; stir mixture into remaining bowl of cheesecake batter. Stir melted bittersweet chocolate into coffee batter until blended.
• Gently pour over plain cheesecake batter in prepared crust, and spread evenly. Pan will be very full. Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake at 325 degrees F until center is almost set but center still jiggles slightly when pan is prodded, 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely, about 2 hours.
• Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and chill 8 to 12 hours. Gently run a knife or offset spatula around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. Remove sides of pan.
• Prepare the Topping: About 1 hour before serving, bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium. Place Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips in a small heatproof bowl; pour cream-syrup mixture over chocolate chips. Let stand 1 minute. Whisk gently until smooth. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
• Pour chocolate mixture over top of cheesecake, and gently spread to edge of crust. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Garnish if desired.

GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE ORANGE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Crust: Preheat oven to 325°F Combine cookies and butter with a fork. Press into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and slightly up the sides. Bake 15 minutes. Cool.
• Filling: Melt 1 ½ cups chocolate chips at 30-second intervals, stirring after every 30 seconds until melted. Cool. Beat cream cheese and 1-3/4 cups sugar until smooth. Add 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips, 1/3 cup orange juice, and eggs, one at a time. Pour into crust, and bake 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
• Topping: Mix sour cream, 6 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate together. Spread over cake. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips over. Bake 5 minutes. Turn off heat, and cool in the oven with the door slightly open for 30 minutes. Place in refrigerator overnight.