What could be better than chocolate cheesecake?? The decadent combination of chocolate, the quintessential classic dessert flavor, and the creamy texture and slight tang of cheesecake, this is a dessert that checks most of the boxes!
Eating out was our favorite entertainment in my family growing up. We first discovered this divine combination at a restaurant we frequented called The Lyceum, and we finally managed to wheedle the recipe out of the kitchen staff.
It was a ‘restaurant sized’ list of ingredient amounts, and a little light on instructions with no info at all on the crust…
So after some experimentation we’ve perfected the crust and cut the recipe down to make two 9” cheesecakes. It freezes extremely well, so you can have one ready to go whenever you need an ‘emergency’ special dessert!
This was one of the very popular desserts featured at our ChocolateFest Dessert Party recently.
The Lyceum Chocolate Cheesecake
makes two 9” cheesecakes
Ingredients
Crust
2 pkgs chocolate wafer cookies (like Goya chocolate Maria Cookies), crumbled
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
Filling
2.5 lbs (five 8 oz packages) of cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp flour
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
Garnishes
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
chocolate shavings or chocolate curls
Directions
Crust
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Lightly butter (or spray with nonstick spray such as Pam) two 9” springform or removable bottom cheesecake pans
Combine cookie pieces, butter, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until fine
Press crumbs over bottoms and ~1” up the sides of the prepared pans. Tamp into place - the bottom of a measuring cup works well for this
Refrigerate crusts while preparing filling.
Filling
Melt chocolate in a double boiler on the stovetop, or, as I prefer in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly.
In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Reduce speed to low.
Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
Gradually beat in remaining ingredients.
Beat 5 minutes on high scraping sides occasionally.
Pour filling into prepared crusts.
Bake 12 minutes then turn down oven temperature to 300°F and bake 50 more minutes. Turn off oven and leave door closed for 30 minutes.
Cool on rack 30 minutes and then refrigerate.
At this point, you can also wrap tightly and freeze.
Garnish
Whip cream and sugar until firm peaks form. You can beat in whipped cream stabilizer (affiliate link) if you need to be certain the whipped cream doesn’t break down.
Using a large star tip, pipe rosettes of whipped cream (optionally, spread a layer of whipped cream cream over the top of the cake before adding rosettes)
Garnish whipped cream with chocolate shavings or chocolate curls
Refrigerate until serving.
