Marble Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a wonderful sensory experience - it is gorgeous to behold, the smell is inviting, the texture has a creamy denseness that is so satisfying.  Elegant and fancy with a history stretching back to ancient Greece, cheesecake is made from the humble workhorse - cream cheese - the variations are limited only by the imagination.  

Marble Cheesecake

makes 1 9-inch cheesecake

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled

Boiling water as needed

Crust
1 3/4 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons melted butter

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. 
Grease a 10-inch spring-form. Wrap pan bottom with double layer of aluminum foil.
In a Cuisinart with blade inserted,  pulse cookies until they are a fine crumb, or use a rolling pin and the cookies in a zip lock bag.
Add the sugar, salt and melted butter and pulse a few more times until combined.
Dump the contents into the spring-form and pat into and even layer going halfway up the sides.
Bake for 9 minutes.

For the the Cheesecake:
Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.

Set some water to boil.

In a large mixing bowl, beat on low speed the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well at low speed after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Pour two-thirds of the batter into the spring-form pan. 

Mix the melted chocolate with the remaining batter.

Add dollops of the chocolate batter on top.  
Using a knife, create a marble pattern by dragging the knife through the cheesecake in a several circles then running the knife in straight lines to the center. 

Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. 

Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or until well chilled.