An absolutely indulgent, decadent and gourmet mouthful. This cheesecake is so divine (if I do say so myself) and worth every bit of effort. The coffee cream is absolutely necessary to cut through the richness of the cheesecake. If you are unable to do a water bath, the cheesecake will still work, it just wont be quite as perfect in texture.
Base
125g butter, melted
20g cocoa powder
80g brown sugar
130g plain flour
Cheesecake
250g dark chocolate
500g cream cheese, softened
150g sugar
2 Tbsp instant coffee granules
150ml cream
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
Coffee Cream
1 Tbsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 Tbsp hot water
150ml cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
Preheat oven to 160°C. Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm spring-form tin with baking paper. Wrap the outside of the tin with foil (this is to prevent water getting in when we cook the cheesecake in a water bath, so make sure every hole is covered and it’s sealed nicely).
Melt butter. Place biscuit mix in a large bowl and combine with melted butter. Transfer to prepared tin and press into the base. Use a spoon or the bottom of a glass measuring cup to do this. Bake for 10 minutes. The base might not look cooked through when you take it out of the oven, but don’t worry as it will set. Set aside.
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Set aside and allow to cool completely to room temperature.
Add room temperature cream cheese, sugar, coffee granules, first measure of cream, eggs and salt to a food processor and blend until smooth and combined. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a nutri-bullet, but you may need to do it in 2 batches.
Fold in melted, COOLED chocolate. DO NOT pour in warm chocolate, as you will curdle the eggs!
Boil the kettle (or a big pot of water). Pour cheesecake mixture on top of base and place tin
into a deep roasting dish or pan. Pour in hot water from the kettle, enough to come about 3cm up the side of the tin. Bake for 75 minutes; the centre will still be jiggly, but it will set as it cools.
Remove from the oven and very carefully take cheesecake out of the water bath. Use oven gloves to remove the foil. Immediately run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake; this will prevent the centre from cracking too much. Chill completely for 4-6 hours or overnight.
When ready to serve, mix coffee granules with water and allow to cool completely. Then add cream and icing sugar and use electric beaters to whip until stiff peaks.
Decorate cheesecake with whipped cream and dust with cocoa.