Divine Chocolate Velvet Cheesecake
from http://www.kingarthurflour.com

Clara Coleman, a resident of Colorado, took the grand prize in Divine Chocolate’s recipe contest with this decadent chocolate cheesecake. If you love chocolate truffles, you will adore Divine Chocolate Velvet Cheesecake. The rich, creamy chocolate cheesecake begins to melt the second it hits the tongue, then glides down the throat like a stream of satin-like fudge sauce. Mascarpone cheese, a vary rich Italian-style cream cheese, may be the secret ingredient that gives this cake it's extra creamy consistency. It's decadent. It's Divine.

Note: Divine Chocolate is the world's first farmer-owned Fair Trade chocolate brand, co-owned by the cocoa farmers cooperative Kuapa Kikoo in Ghana. Their stated mission is to improve the livelihood of small scale cocoa farmers in Ghana and increase the benefits farmers receive from the multi-billion dollar chocolate industry. Divine's type of fair trade, allowing farmers to be the investors in their own company and receive a cut of profit for business and social community programs, on top of the regular fair trade price, is a great model.

Crust:
1 1/4 cups crushed chocolate snap cookies or chocolate biscotti (about 25 cookies, about 5 3/4 ounces)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) pecans
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 (3.5-ounce) bars Divine 70% Dark Chocolate
1 (3.5-ounce) bar Divine Milk Chocolate
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
16 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature (mascarpone cheese substitute or make your own)
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Tightly wrap the outside of a 10" x 3" springform pan with three layers of heavy-duty foil. Note: you can use a 9" pan, but it has to be at least 3" tall; even then, you'll find the cheesecake comes perilously close to spilling over. Grease the sides of the pan. To ensure stick-free removal, line with parchment, and grease the parchment.

Finely grind the chocolate cookies, pecans, and sugar in a food processor. Add the melted butter and process until moist crumbs form. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust until it’s set and beginning to smell chocolate-y, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool. Decrease the oven temperature to 325°F.

For the filling:
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it gently, in a microwave or double boiler. Cool slightly.

Beat the cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan.

Place the pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the center of the cheesecake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 65 minutes (the cake will become firm when as it cools). To prevent cracking, leave it in the oven with the door ajar for 30 minutes.

Transfer the cake to a rack; cool for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days. Decorate with fresh strawberries or raspberries, if desired.

Yield: 12 to 16 servings.