CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CHEESECAKE

Today, marks the 5th anniversary of Rock Recipes! When I started a personal recipe blog back in 2007, I never imagined that it would grow as much as it has. Up until that point, I had never written down recipes that I came up with or modified to suit our family’s taste.

My sister started insisting that I provide her with some of my favourite recipes and with an upcoming major ankle surgery looming that would have me in a wheelchair for several months, I decided having all that time away from work was a good opportunity to start a recipe blog as a reference for family and friends.

Over 100 of the very first recipes on Rock Recipes, with the enormous help of Spouse, were made, written and photographed from that wheelchair. One of the visual memories I carry from that time is of the kitchen door frame.

My wheelchair just barely fit through that door and over the months, I gradually wore all the paint off the door frame from so many trips back and forth to the kitchen. I must have tried Lynn’s patience to the limit. I’m demanding enough at the best of times, so having me immobilized was no treat, to be sure!

In the first 30 days the website went online it received 6,830 hits, as family and friends started following our recipes. I thought at the time that was great that a couple of hundred times a day someone was visiting a page on our site. Fast forward five years and incredibly, the number of page hits in the last 30 days was 453,528!! (2018 update. Our traffic now reaches over 1.2 million pageviews a month and up to 2.2 million pageviews a month during the busy Christmas season.)

I never would have predicted that level of growth but with the advent of social media, more and more folks started following Rock Recipes on Facebook, Twitter, by email, RSS feeds and most recently Pinterest. Slowly and steadily our readership has increased.

Ingredients

For the Cookie Crumb Crust
1 ½ cups Oreo Cookie Crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
3 tbsp sugar
For the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake batter
1 ½ pounds cream cheese three 8 oz blocks
3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate 3 ounces of chocolate in total, melted ( In a pinch you can substitute 2/3 cup cocoa)
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
For the Ganache Glaze
1/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Cookie Crumb Crust
Line the bottom of a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. You can grease the bottom of the pan but using parchment paper is the best way to easily release a cheesecake from the bottom of the pan. I just lay a sheet over the bottom of the pan before clicking the side portion of the pan into place and then trim the excess paper.
Mix the crumbs sugar and melted butter well and press the crumbs into a 9 inch spring form pan that has the bottom lined with parchment paper. No need to grease or line the sides. set aside while you make the cheesecake batter.
For the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake batter
Cream together well, the cream cheese, melted chocolate (or cocoa) and sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in the 2 tsp vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream and powdered sugar to soft peaks and then fold gently into the cheesecake batter.
Pour into prepared springform pan. Bake in a water bath (bain marie) at 300 degrees F for about an hour or until the surface of the cake no longer looks glossy. (60-75 minutes)
Remove from oven and immediately run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Cool completely in the pan. Top with chocolate ganache glaze.
For the Ganache Glaze
In a small saucepan, scald but do not boil ¼ cup whipping cream
Then melt in the chocolate chips on low heat:
Pour over cooled cake and garnish with fresh berries if you like.