Death by Chocolate Cheesecake

aka Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake.

For those of you not familiar with what a chocolate turtle is, shame on you, you don't know what you've been missing. It's a lump of caramel with four pieces of pecan sticking out, then dipped in milk chocolate. When it dries, it looks rather like a chocolate turtle.

But anyway... the original recipe is from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook I have. They have a chocolate turtle cheesecake recipe, but I actually took a different chocolate cheesecake recipe they have and changed a few things around to make it easier... such as using a container of dulche del leche (caramel) spread rather than melting caramel squares. I used the other recipe because it calls for more chocolate.

Recipe:

Crust:

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I use chocolate tea biscuits)

6 TBS margarine or butter, melted

Cheesecake:

2 8 oz. pkgs Philly cream cheese, softened (roughly 450 grams)

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

6 oz. dark chocolate pieces, melted (about 170 grams)

Caramel Layer:

1 500 gram container of dulce de leche

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Chocolate Ganache:

8 oz (1/2 lb or about 1⅓ cup of ) milk chocolate pieces

1 cup heavy whipping cream

To assemble:

Combine crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350, for 10 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in chocolate; pour over pecans.

Bake at 350, 40 minutes.

Soften the dulce de leche by either placing it in a hot bath or in the microwave. Spread over cheesecake. Top with pecans.

Bring heavy cream to a simmer on the stove top, stirring occasionally. Just as soon as you see a simmer, remove from heat and poor over chocolate chips, swirling the bowl to make sure all chips are covered. Place lid on chocolate chips to trap the heat and let sit undisturbed (no mixing) for 5 minutes. Remove lid and swirl the chocolate chips with a whisk starting in the center and working outward until smooth. Once it's velvety, let it sit uncovered at room temperature (70˚F) for about 15 minutes before pouring it over your cake. Then pour over the cheesecake, and refrigerate.

Not the prettiest piping job, but it didn't affect the taste in the slightest.