Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake

On Sunday we had dinner with a few other couples and we were in charge of dessert. I made a Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake and it was raved about! I'd definitely make it again.

As usual, here is the recipe, along with my notes:

Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake recipe

• 18 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely crushed*
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 3 (8 ounce) packages PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened**
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 (1 ounce) squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted, cooled slightly***
• 3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 300 degrees F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan)****. Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
3. Bake 55 min. to 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

*I used the Great Value oreo cookies and they tasted just fine. I mashed them in a tupperware with a (get this, haha) potato masher. But it worked perfectly! I feel like I always end up with holes in the plastic bag when I smash them in a gallon ziploc but the potato masher did the trick.

**I bought the Weight Watchers cream cheese because it was cheaper (we went to Walmart for our groceries that day). Even though it was "lite" the texture was just as velvety smooth.

***I bought the Baker's chocolate but just use chocolate chips instead. Baker's chocolate is more expensive and it's pretty much the same thing.

**** I wish I would have had this listed on the recipe I was using. When I pulled the cheesecake out of the oven (5 minutes early, too) I felt it was a tinch overdone. Next time I know - if using a nonstick springform pan, preheat to 300 degrees NOT 325. But really, the cake tasted just fine. :)

Sorry - cool plate, terrible picture.
But I've got a tip for you: I wanted to dust mine with powdered sugar, but didn't have any tools to do it with. So I pulled out the grater and tapped it with a spoon. Makes the perfect sugar duster!

Let me know how you all like it!

Happy Birthday, Morgan! (And Untel Tyler!)

Yesterday afternoon I (attempted) to make a cake to celebrate Morgan's birthday. (It's also sort-of for Tyler's birthday, but I think when we come back to Provo after our trip I'm going to make him a giant, under-cooked chocolate chip cookie with ice cream on top. He'll love it.) As you can see from the picture, it really did turn out great! Except I didn't show you the detail work...I forgot to freeze the slices after I cut them, so frosting them was a nightmare. Crumbs were everywhere and huge chunks fell off and it was just a terrible experience. So the fish is teal, pink, and yellow cake colored. A lot of the sides I left unfrosted. Then, when I woke up this morning, the front of the fishie fell off completely. So the cake really was at its best when I took the above photograph.

But I don't think Morgan will mind because we have lots of M&Ms!