Ingredients
Scale
Graham Cracker Crust
- 2 ¼ cups graham crackers, crushed
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Cream Cheese Filling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degree F.
- Prepare the crust by crushing the graham crackers and mixing in the melted butter.
- Press the graham cracker mix onto the bottom of a 9″ springform pan to form the crust.
- Waterproof the springform pan by wrapping it in 3 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Wrap the foil up and over the rim of the pan.
- Repeat wrapping the foil until you have all 3 layers up over the rim of the pan and neatly crimped just to the inside. This step is critical to making a creamy cheesecake by cooking it in a waterbath and keeping that water from leaking in and making a soggy crust.
- Melt the chocolate in a small pan or skillet over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted and then remove it from the heat.Â
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch together until it is whipped and perfectly smooth.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and whip it again until smooth.Â
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, Â beating on medium speed to fully incorporate it before the next egg addition.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat it once again.
- Then mix in the sour cream & vanilla until it’s smooth.
- Stir 3 cups of the cream cheese mixture into the cooled chocolate until it is fully incorporated. Â
- To swirl the cheesecake you can either dollop black & white batter into crust and marble by swirling through a knife. OR you can carefully add the chocolate mix back into the bowl with the vanilla batter and stir it just until it’s swirled. Then carefully scrape it into the pan.
- Swirl the top of the cheesecake by drawing a knife back and forth with the knife one way and then back and forth perpendicular to the first direction.Â
- Set the pan into a roasting pan and carefully pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up side of springform pan.
- Bake the cheesecake for 70 minutes until it is set. (Give it a very gentle giggle and watch the center for movement.)
- Turn off oven and open the door until it has cooled to room temperature.
- Carefully remove the foil and draw a knife around the outside of pan to loosen the cheesecake. (Just removing the sides can cause cracks if it sticks.)
- Refrigerate the Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake for at least 6 hours.
- This cheesecake also freezes beautifully. If fact, I think it may even be better after freezing so if I have time I will freeze it overnight instead of refrigerating and set it out to thaw in the morning.Â