Monday, March 11, 2013

Baileys Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Food is a fun way to celebrate pretty much every holiday, from bountiful Thanksgiving feasts to smoky ribs and juicy burgers on the 4th of July, and St. Patrick's Day is no exception in our house. We have made the classic corned beef dinner, roasted salmon, colcannon, Guinness braised meats, and multiple loaves of Irish soda bread, all in the spirit of creating a fun St. Patty's Day meal. As we are not a family to leave out dessert, many years ago I tried this Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake to complete our holiday meal and it was an instant hit. It is smooth and creamy with nice chocolaty chunks and just a hint of coffee and Bailey's. It is the perfect way to finish your culinary salute to the Irish.


Baileys Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Bon Appetit March 1989

Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

Filling
2 1/4 lbs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 2/3 cups sugar 
5 eggs 
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream 
1 tablespoon vanilla 
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Coffee Cream
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons suagr
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

Crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9 inch spring form pan with non stick spray. Combine crumbs and sugar in the pan, stir in the butter. Press mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake until lightly brown, about 7 minutes.

Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in Bailey's and vanilla.
Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over crust. Spoon in filling and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over top of the filling. Bake cake until puffed in center and golden brown, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool cake completely.

Coffee Cream : Beat cream, sugar and coffee powder until peak form. Spread over cooled cake or dollop over individual slices. Garnish with chocolate curls.

To serve a group, I made mini cheese cakes using a 12-well tin with removable bottom pieces. I ran the tip of a knife around the top of the baked cakes and using the hole in the bottom of the pan pushed up on the bottom piece to remove the cake from the tin. I also used mini chocolate chips in the mini version. I baked the minis for about 20 minutes.
printable recipe



link:Foodie Friday