CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY CHEESECAKE

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY CHEESECAKE image

Yield serves 12-16

Number Of Ingredients 15

Crust:
1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
Filling:
4 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup maraschino cherries, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maraschino cherry juice
Topping:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 maraschino cherries w/ stems

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350. For crust: In a small mixing bowl, combine chocolate graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9-in springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn oven temperature to 400. For filling: In a large mixing bowl, on low speed mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Add in the chopped cherries, vanilla extract and cherry juice. Mix until just combined. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 400 for 10 min., then turn oven down to 250 and bake for 1 hour. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate overnight. For topping: In a small saucepan, heat whipping cream on low. When heated, add chocolate chips. Stir until mixture is smooth. Allow to cool about 5 minutes. Pour chocolate mixture over the chilled cheesecake. Arrange the stemmed cherries around the cheesecake.