mocha marble cheesecake

Almost a month ago, we celebrated my husband's convocation. He has been studying, part time evenings for the last three years, for his Masters in Business Administration. I often would joke that I was a single mother during those three years or that I too received the degree since it takes a team effort to make these things happen, but I am very proud of all his hard work and efforts. He is extremely deserving of every bit of praise.

To mark the celebration, we had a small family dinner party and I made cheesecake. My hubby is fond of cheesecake and I quite enjoyed making it since I have never done so before. The recipe is not very difficult but it is time consuming. Baking and allowing to sit in the oven takes more than 2 hours! But it was well worth it.

First off, I had some family members thinking I bought it at a bakery! How lovely to hear that! You will find below the basic cheesecake recipe but I took the extra step to make it a mocha marble cheesecake to give it a beautiful swirl design. With 2 tsp of instant coffee granules, the taste of coffee is enough but not overpowering in this recipe. I actually used light cream cheese and light sour cream and I found it just as creamy and tasty. Didn't miss the extra fat at all :)

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mocha marble cheesecake

2 pkg (each 8oz/250 g) cream cheese (I used Light cream cheese)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
3 cups sour cream (I used Light sour cream)

crust:
1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs (ground down chocolate cookies)
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Crust: Stir together crumbs and butter until well moistened. Press onto lightly greased 8 or 8.5 inch springform pan. Center pan on large square foil, press up side of pan. Bake in centre of 325F oven for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese until softened. Gradually beat in sugar; beat for 3 mintues or until smooth and light, scraping down bowl twice. Use low speed, beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in lemon juice, vanilla, salt and sour cream.

You can pour the batter onto crust and make basic cheese cake or you can do this next step and make it mocha marble cheesecake.

Mocha mud part: Dissolve 2 tsp of instant coffee granules in 1 Tbsp hot water. Divide batter in half. Whisk 8 oz (250g) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled, into one half; whisk coffee into chocolate mixture. By cupfuls, alternately pour chocolate batter and plain batter over crust. Swirl handle of spoon through both batches, without disturbing crust, to create marbled effect.

Set springform pan in larger pan; pour enough hot water into larget pan to come 1 inch up side of springform pan. Bake at 325 F for 1-1/4 hours or until shine disappears and edge is set yet center jiggles slightly. Turn off oven, run knife quickly around edge of cake. Let cool in oven for one hour. Remove from water and transfer to rack; remove foil and let cool completely.

Recipe from: Mocha Marble Cheesecake, The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook.