Upon thinking further, I decided it would be the perfect way to use some of my mint chips I got a few months ago. However, I did have to contemplate on how to get these two layers of distinction in a baked cheesecake. So if you are curious as to how I did it and if you enjoy the blissful combo of mint and chocolate, read on!
Before you get there, however, I would like to give a heartfelt word of thanks to the Choc Chip Uru for giving me the award below. She is the host of an amazing blog called Go Bake Yourself and hails from Australia. Even though she is a teenager, she has bounded onto the blogging scene with some very delicious and creative posts. If you do not know her, I encourage you to stop in and introduce yourself, for this blogger is coming up the ranks very fast!
Jade and Suede Cheesecake
by flourtrader
Ingredients/Crust
15 chocolate mint filled sandwich cookies, crushed (I used Oreo brand)
1/4 cup melted butter
Grease a 9 inch springform pan. In a small bowl mix crushed cookies and butter until no dry crumbs remain. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan and about 1 to 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Set aside.
Ingredients/ Filling
1/3 cup mint chips
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract
4 drops green food coloring
1 cup sour cream
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the cream cheese together until smooth. Then add the eggs and beat again. Once all is blended, measure out two cups of the mixture into one bowl. This leaves about two cups remaining in the mixing bowl. Cover and place one bowl in the fridge.
Place a small heatproof bowl over a pot of water and fill with the chocolate chips. Put over medium heat and let water simmer. Stir chocolate until completely melted. Remove from heat.
Add 1/2 cup sour cream and the vanilla extract to the cream cheese mixture. Then pour in chocolate and stir until all is well blended. Put mixture into the prepared crust and smooth the top until even. Cover and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
During the last 5 minutes of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Then start preparing the mint layer. Melt the 1/3 cup of mint chocolate chips in the same manner as you did the chocolate. Remove from heat. Take the bowl of cream cheese mixture from the refrigerator. Add 1/2 cup of the sour cream, mint extract, food coloring and melted mint chips. Stir until all is evenly distributed.
Remove the cheesecake from the freezer and slowly pour the mint layer over the top. Then smooth it out, making sure it is even. Place pan in oven and bake for about one hour and 25 minutes. When done, the top of the cheesecake should no longer be shiny. Turn the oven off and leave the cake to cool inside the oven.
Once cooled, place cake in refrigerator for about 6 hours.
Ingredients/Topping
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 drops of mint extract
24-30 semi sweet chips
Place whipping cream, sugar and extract in a small bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Cut off a small corner of a plastic zip lock bag and put a piping tip in the bag, sticking out the corner. Fill the bag with the whipped cream mixture. Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and pipe a border of whipped cream around the edge of the cake. Then place chocolate chips on top of each swirl of the piping. Place the cheesecake back in the fridge to chill for another few hours. Then you can slice and enjoy.
**LAST YEAR:Tropical Cream Cheese Cookies**