German Chocolate Cheesecake

Every year I make LeDonna something German chocolate for her birthday - in the past I've made layered cake, bread, stuffed cupcakes, this year I decided to try a German chocolate cheesecake (because I'm now on a cheesecake roll). I was a tiny bit hesitant to experiment with a different recipe after the other two (plain and strawberry swirl) turned out so flawless (!) but knowing that it was going to be topped with a thick layer of coconut-pecan frosting I wasn't as worried about it cracking.

It's a similar recipe though with 4 eggs and a bit of flour (or corn starch) and her technique is along the same lines with turning the oven off for a bit, and then cracking the door for a while before removing it from the oven to cool. This one also turned out great tho - no cracks, creamy and smooth and very rich. My new-found love of making cheesecakes continues!

Before I added the frosting I weighed the cake because it's so heavy and I was curious - 4.5 pounds. And then I added the frosting and weighed again - 6 pounds! 6! Goodness. I texted LeDonna that she needed to have a party to have help eating all of this dessert ;)

I looked at a bunch of different recipes before deciding on this one from Life Love and Sugar, click here to see the original source. I didn't change a thing so am just copying her recipe for you (and me, so I don't misplace it for next time - and there will be a next time!). Oh wait, I did change a couple things - no drizzle of chocolate sauce, I used unsweetened coconut flakes, and I made the filling in a food processor because I read somewhere that doing that versus in a mixer creates less air in the filling which helps keep down cracking. Don't know if that's true, but it didn't crack so...

You make a crust out of oreo cookie crumbs - I bought a small package of oreo thins and put all of them in the food processor, it took the whole package which was 40 thins to make 2 cups (actually it was 39 thins because Dave ate one before I could stop him!).

INGREDIENTS

COCONUT PECAN TOPPING 

• 4 egg yolks
• 12 oz can evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 2/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

CRUST

• 2 cups Oreo crumbs (leave filling in Oreos)
• 4 tbsp butter, melted

CHEESECAKE FILLING 

• 24 ounces packages of cream cheese, room temperature (three 8 oz packages)
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 oz german chocolate, melted
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

COCONUT PECAN TOPPING 

1. In a large saucepan, combine the egg yolks, milk and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

2. Add sugar and butter and cook on medium heat for 12-15 minutes, or until thickened (almost pudding-like) and golden brown, stirring constantly.

3. Remove from heat and add coconut and pecans. Mix well.

4. Allow to cool completely.

CRUST

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, combine crust ingredients and mix well.

3. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

4. Bake crust for 10 minutes then remove and set aside.

5. Cover the outsides of the pan with aluminum foil and set aside.

CHEESECAKE FILLING

1. Reduce oven to 300 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, blend the cream cheese, sugar, chocolate, flour and cocoa with an electric mixer until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.

4. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until well combined.

5. Put a little bit of the cheesecake filling in the bottom of the crust. Then add about 1 1/2 cups of coconut pecan topping and spread evenly.

6. Pour remaining cheesecake filling into the springform pan and spread evenly. The pan will be very full.

7. Place springform pan inside another pan. Fill outside pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan.

8. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

9. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 20 minutes.

10. Crack oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 20 minutes or until set. This cooling process helps the cheesecake cool slowly to prevent cracks.

11. Remove cheesecake from oven and chill.

12. Once the cheesecake is completely cool, remove springform pan sides from cheesecake and place cheesecake on a serving plate.

13. Top cheesecake with remaining coconut pecan topping and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

#lifeloveandsugar.com 

one year ago: paper sunflowers in wine corks
two years ago: wood box with chalkboard message
three years ago: the hulk sized zucchini!