Crust
Ingredients
8 oz. low-fat chocolate animal crackers
(if unavailable, you can use Nabisco Icebox chocolate
wafers)
3 oz. sweet butter (2/3 stick)
Adjust the lowest rack of your oven to one-third up. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Separate the bottom of a 9x3 springform pan. Spray the sides of the pan with Pam. Do NOT spray the bottom of the pan. Reassemble the pan and set aside.
Crumble the cookies coarsely and place them in a food processor to make fine crumbs, then place in a mixing bowl. Melt the butter and add to crumbs, stirring until thoroughly mixed.
Pour two-thirds of the crumb mixture into the pan. Tilt the pan at about a 45 degree angle. With your fingertips, press a thin layer of the crumbs against the sides. Press from the bottom up -- leave at least 3/4" of the top rim uncrumbed. Rotate the pan as you continue to press the crumbs into a smooth, thin layer. When finished, place the pan down and pour in the remaining one-third of the crumb mixture. Press this evenly to form the bottom crust. Do not leave any holes in the bottom. Press firmly to make the layer compact and smooth.
Cream cheese filling
Ingredients
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I prefer
Ghiaradelli)
24 oz. reduced fat cream-cheese (Neufchatel), room
temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper (optional)
6 egg whites (you will add these two at a time)
(or substitute Egg Beaters equivalent of three eggs)
1 cup nonfat sour cream
Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler over hot water or in the microwave on 50% setting. Stir until completely smooth melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a food processor, cream the cream cheese until quite smooth.
Add the pure vanilla, salt, sugar, and optional black pepper (which makes the chocolate flavor more intense), process until quite smooth.
Add the melted chocolate and process, scraping sides to make sure all the cream cheese is incorporated.
Then, add two egg whites at a time, process until completely blended after each addition.
Add the sour cream and beat until smooth.
Pour the filling into the crumb crust (it should not quite or barely reach the top of the crumbs). Spin the pan briskly first to the left, and to the right, to smooth top (use a spatula to finishing smoothing the top if necessary).
Bake for one hour. It will still be quite soft at the end of the hour.
Cool completely on a rack. Cover the cake with foil and refrigerate overnight. If you do this prematurely, the cake will steam and water will condense on the foil, and then drip onto the cake).
Remove the pan from the cheesecake, just before serving. With a firm, sharp knife, cut around the sides of the crust, pressing the blade firmly against the pan as you cut. Then release and remove the sides of the pan. Use a large firm spatula to lift and move the cheesecake from the bottom of the pan to a large flat serving plate.
Cut in thin slices. This dessert tastes very rich.
Add fresh strawberries or raspberries to each serving. Some insist this dessert is best with whipped cream on the side. While this somewhat cancels out some of the fat-gram savings, it does certainly taste good with this cake!
If you cook this cheesecake in advance, wrap in an airtight piece of plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate or freeze. If frozen, allow to thaw completely, overnight in the refrigerator, before removing the plastic wrap/foil. Serve cold.
This recipe was adapted from Heatter, M . (1978) Maidea Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Submitted by Dave Barnett.
