Back at the beginning of September when my life was still blissfully relaxing as rotations had yet to start, Mom, Dad, Kiefer, and Kelsey made the short six hour trip through corn and soy beans to the lovely city of Ames. The cozy stay in my single bedroom apartment was punctuated by a trip to Cedar Rapids so that Kiefer and I could showcase our endurance in the New Bo Half Marathon, a race we had been training for for the majority of the summer!
What is a race without carb loading?! And, more importantly, what is a birthday without cake (Mom was turning 29 in a few short days)?! I was craving chocolate, I knew Mom enjoyed cheesecake, and everybody loves birthdays and cakes.. The result? A mixture of recipes gathered from Pinterest and Mom's cookbook!
So, my dear friends and family, when you want heaven on earth, make sure you have plenty of time to bake (two days is adequate, as I'll explain later) and to eat at a luxurious pace. I divulge to you my recipe.
Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
Ingredients for Cookie Crust (made from previous experimental crusts):
Package of Oreos (or off-brand Oreos), finely crushed
4 Tbsp Butter, melted
How To:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend ingredients together
3. Press into the bottom of a greased, spring loaded pan
4. Bake 10 minutes and let cool (5 minutes with cookies about does it!)
Ingredients for New York Style Cheesecake (garnered from Mom's cookbook, my go-to cheesecake recipe):
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 3 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
How To:
1. Cool oven to 300 degrees
2. Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl
3. Add 1 C sugar gradually, beat until fluffy
4. Add vanilla
5. Beat in one egg at a time
6. Pour over crumb mixture
7. Bake until center is firm, about 1 hour
8. When cake is cool, cover and place in fridge for at least four hours, or overnight (I did it overnight)
Ingredients for Chocolate Mousse (yes, chocolate mousse as the name of the recipe suggests! Recipe from blogger on Pinterest):
6 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, separated
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 C heavy cream, cold
1/2 tsp vanilla
How To:
1. Place chocolate and butter in heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan with simmering water (I just melted in a saucepan over heat, just watched to make sure it didn't burn!)
2. Melt chocolate and butter and stir with whisk until smooth
3. Remove from heat and cool slightly
4. Add egg yolks to chocolate one at a time
5. Set aside
6. In another bowl, beat eggs whites until foamy
7. Gradually whisk in 1/4 C sugar
8. Whisk until stiff peaks form
9. Beat heavy cream in chilled bowl (stuck my mixing bowl in the freezer with my beaters) until it begins to foam and thicken up
10. Add remaining 2 tbsps sugar and vanilla
11. Continue to whip cream until it holds soft peaks
12. Gradually and gently fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture
13. Delicately fold in the whipped cream (sounds silly to delicately fold.. but you want your mousse to still be fluffy!)
14. Place mousse on top of cooled cheesecake
15. Cover cheesecake with foil and place in the fridge for a few hours (IT NEEDS TO BE COOL BEFORE ADDING THE GANACHE, YES, GANACHE, LAYER!)
Ingredients for Ganache (oh, we are almost done with this deliciousness! Recipe from blogger found on Pinterest)
1/2 C heavy cream
4.5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1.5 tsp vanilla
How To:
1. Heat the cream in sauce pan over medium heat, heat until just BEFORE it boils
2. Place chocolate in cream, and remove from heat
3. Add vanilla and stir mixture until smooth
4. Allow ganache to cool for about 15 minutes before pouring mixture on top of mousse cheesecake
5. Smooth ganache onto mousse (it will firm quickly because of the cool cake)
6. FRICKIN' ENJOY THAT BIT OF HEAVEN ON EARTH YOU'VE JUST CREATED!!!
There you have it.. Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake!!!!!!!!!!!!
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