PB Day 12 - Say "Cheesecake"!

I tried to come up with a super-inauthentic title...did it work?

I really love cheesecake. If I was turned loose at the Cheesecake Factory, they would have to call 911...probably because I was holding the pumpkin cheesecakes hostage.

Homemade cheesecake is nothing like frozen cheesecake from the store. It's nothing like that "Snicker's Pie" you see on a table tent at restaurants. Homemade cheesecake is...it's just wonderful. It's big, it's fluffy, it's sweet and tangy, it's chocolatey, it's rich, it's...ugh, I gotta stop with the adjectives before I embarrass myself in front of ya'll.

Making your own cheesecake is an event in itself. This is not something that you can decide at 4pm that you want for dessert at dinner. This is a commitment. And this is a triple layer cheesecake. Triple layer = lots of dishes to wash.
And after your commitment is filled, you have to eat it.
My husband would probably chase me out of the house if I made him eat cheesecake. He's picky - and when I say "picky", I mean the man eats nothing but Doritos and Hamburger Helper. He gagged on a Coke Zero yesterday. I'm not exaggerating, the man literally GAGGED.
So in order for me to make this cheesecake, I needed reassurance from friends that this cheesecake would not be left in my refrigerator to rot. And you can replace "to rot" in the previous sentence with, "for me to eat the whole thing". When I put the call out for help like this, usually someone answers...This time, it was my cousin Stacia...our Facebook message went like this:

Amy: Hey, I'm going to make a 3 layer cheesecake next week that I refuse to eat alone...maybe Wednesday...?
Stacia: Never refuse cheesecake...Rule #2 in Stacia's Rules for Life.

Cool, I don't have to eat the entire cheesecake alone. And I'm pretty sure eating an entire cheesecake alone is the 8th Deadly Sin that never made the cut.

Amy, geeze, can we get on with this????
Ok, here we go.

I hate graham cracker crusts, so I'm choosing an Oreo crust.

1 1/2 cups of crushed Oreos, mixed with 4tbsp melted butter

Hey, Amy...didn't you also use Oreos yesterday?
Yeah, Dude...they were totally on sale this week! 2 for $5!

Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan

In the mixer, beat 3 packages of cream cheese...

Scrape down and add 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 tbsp of vanilla...Beat until smooth...
Ugh, doesn't that look yummy?

Scrape down the bowl and add 1 tbsp of flour...

Then crack 5 eggs into a bowl and add them to the cream cheese mixture one at a time...beat well after each addition...

Here comes the part where we dirty all the dishes in the house.

Divide the batter into three bowls...
I think they have about 1 1/2 cups of batter in each.
The three layers are chocolate, peanut butter and vanilla...let's put the chocolate on the bottom...

Melt 3 oz of unsweetened chocolate, mix with one of the batters...

Spread evenly onto the Oreos...

Throw into the freezer for about an hour. Refrigerate the remaining batter bowls.

Take it out, mix 1/2 cup of peanut butter with another bowl of batter
and spread that on the chocolate layer...
Freeze for another hour. Refrigerate remaining bowl of batter.

Last, but certainly not least,
Spread the vanilla layer onto the peanut butter layer...

Finally, we're ready to bake.

Water bath = No cracks on cheesecake.

Wrap the springform pan in a double layer of aluminum foil and place in a pan with water coming up to 1/2 the side of the pan.
Place in 325 degree oven...
After an 1 hour and 20 minutes, you get this:

Let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate...

I let it sit in there overnight.

The next morning, I covered it with dark chocolate ganache (1/2 cup dark chocolate chips melted with 2 tbsp heavy cream)...
Refrigerated that...then we cut.

Oh. My. Crap. This is the prettiest thing I have ever made.

Would you look!?!
Dude, I gotta eat some of this...



a bite for you?
Ok, so then I packed her all up with real plates and forks (it is a sin against the epicurean god to eat cheesecake on paper plates with plastic forks), and headed to Stacia's office...with the kids.

I fully intended on taking pics of everyone eating, but I left my camera in the picnic basket and forgot...

I got this sad last shot of an empty plate, though! They really liked it!
While we were eating, Stacia's co-worker Christy, was kind enough to take the boys to her office...they played with her Mac and came up with hilarious pictures...

That's my son, with his gigantic brain...

Fun day, good times.

Here's the recipe.

Triple Layer Cheesecake (Tuxedo Cheesecake)

Adapted from a recipe found at Turkish Cooking Class

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Oreo cookies, crushed
4 tbsp melted butter

Cake
3 (8oz each) pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp all purpose flour
5 large eggs
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter

Ganache
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp heavy cream

To make the crust:
Mix together the Oreo crumbs and the melted butter. Press into an even layer on the bottom of the springform pan.

For the cake:
Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla, beat until light and creamy. Scrape the inside of the bowl, beat an additional 30 seconds. Add the flour and mix to incorporate. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low, add the eggs one at a time and mix to incorporate each addition. Do not overmix the cake after the eggs have been added.

Divide the batter into three bowls, about 1 1/2 cups each. Add the melted chocolate to one bowl, and mix. Pour this batter over the crust layer and spread even. Place the pan in the freexer for 1 hour or until the cheesecake layer is firm.

Add the peanut butter to the second bowl of batter, mix to incorporate. Pour this over the frozen chocolate layer, return to the freezer for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Add the final bowl of batter on the frozen peanut butter layer.

Wrap the springform pan in a double layer of aluminum foil and place a pan of water in the oven. Put the springform pan in the pan of water; the water should rise half way up the sides of the pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 20-25 minutes. The cake should be slightly soft in the middle. Remove the springform pan from the water and remove the aluminum foil. Let cool to room temperature for 1 hour.

Cover the cake and let it chill in refrigerator. Melt the chocolate and the heavy cream together, pour over cake. Cool and serve.

See? I told you it was an event.
But it's worth it. Every. Single. Minute.