Recipe#8394

Title: Chocolate Cherry 03

From: "Tracy Riggs" ravinwulf@my-dejanews.com 
 Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes 
 Subject: Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake 
 Date: 22 Jul 1998 08:43:40 -0600 
 Message-ID: GLDLPKKNGNPPEAAA@my-dejanews.com 

One 8 1/2 ounce package chocolate wafers, finely crushed 
 1/2 cup melted butter 
  
 One 12 ounce package semisweet chocolate chips 
 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
 Two 8-ounces packages cream cheese, softened 
 3/4 cup sugar 
 4 eggs 
 3/4 cup cherry flavored liqueur (or cherry syrup) 
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
 One 16 ounce can cherry pie filling 
  
 Combine chocolate wafer crumbs and butter.  Pat firmly into 9-inch
 springform pan, covering bottom and 2 1/2 inches up sides.  Chill
 30 minutes.
 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine over hot (not boiling)
 water, chocolate chips and cream.  Stir until chips are melted and
 mixture is smooth.  Set aside.  In large bowl, combine cream cheese
 and sugar, beat until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating
 well after each addition.  Add chocolate mixture, cherry liqueur
 and vanilla, mix until blended.  Pour into prepared crust.  Bake
 at 325 for 1 hour.  Turn oven off.  Let stand in oven with door
 ajar for 1 hour.  Remove and cool completely.  Chill 24 hours.
 Spread cherry pie filling over top of cheesecake to 1 inch from
 edge.  Garnish with chocolate shavings.
 I'm partial to using chocolate "leaves" as garnish on this (and
 other) chocolate desserts...  They're very easy to make.  Pick some
 fairly heavy, shiny leaves off something nontoxic.  (Melt chocolate
 (semi-sweet chips, milk or dark, depending on your preference.)
 Dip the front (top) side of the leaf *only* in melted chocolate
 and put on wax paper to cool.  When the chocolate is cool/hard,
 peel the real leaf off, and presto... chocolate leaves for garnish.