INGREDIENTS:
Butter Crust
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/3 cubes butter (5 oz.), cut into small tablespoon-sized pieces
Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl or food processor. Combine until the dough comes together and looks like crumbly cookie dough. Press dough into two 8 x 3-inch cake pans, bottom, and sides. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Filling
2 lbs. cream cheese
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese with sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix for one minute. Add eggs one at a time. Remove one cup of the filling and reserve it in a small bowl. Pour the remaining filling into the crust-lined cake pans. Add melted chocolate to reserved filling and stir to blend until well combined. Place spoonfuls of chocolate batter on top of the batter in cake pans. Take a fork and with a swirling-dragging motion, stir the chocolate batter until you have a marbleized look.
Place the cakes in a water bath, with a water level at least 2 inches up the sides of the pans. Bake at 300°F for 55-60 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 170°F. Turn off the oven and prop the door open. Let cakes cool for one hour, then place in refrigerator to chill. Garnish with ganache. Pour ganache over cheesecakes and let set one hour before cutting.
Ganache
8 ounces whipping cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a saucepan until almost to a boil. Pour cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for one minute. Slowly stir chocolate and cream until well incorporated and continue stirring for one minute, until the chocolate is smooth and shiny.
SOURCE: First Place Winner, Junior Division, Dana Baldzikowski, Harvest Festival 2006
