SMS - Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

This is a very late SMS post but better late than never, right? :o) Shandy of Pastry Heaven by Shandy picked the last SMS recipe of the year: Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake with Blackberry Glaze. This cheesecake was delicious. It's very chocolatey, creamy and rich, so thin slices will go a long way. To find out for yourself, check out the recipe HERE.

Out of the oven, cooled completely, and ready to be glazed

Used homemade grape jelly in place of the blackberry glaze

A thin slice of delicious cheesecake. Come to momma :o)

I will keep this post short and sweet. The shortcuts I took and other changes I made can be found below.

Final thoughts/tips:

• Replaced the rum in the recipe with heavy cream. For a silkier texture, I added 1 egg yolk.
  
• Instead of the chocolate cookie crust, I used my favorite gingersnap crust with ground almonds.
  
• Skipped pre-baking the crust and the thin layer of melted chocolate on top of the crust. The cheesecake itself is already chocolatey enough.
  
• Cut the amount of espresso in half since I'm not a coffee fan. Glad I did!
• Baked the cheesecake in a water bath in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Afterwards, with the oven door closed, shut off the oven and left the cheesecake in the there for 1 hour.
• Instead of a blackberry glaze, I made a glaze from homemade grape jelly. The cheesecake was delicious without the glaze too.