Extra-chocolate cheesecake

For the base:

• Flour – 150 g | 5.30 oz
• Butter – 65 g | 2.30 oz
• Powdered sugar – 40 g | 1.40 oz
• Brown sugar – 30 g | 1.05 oz
• Egg – 1 piece | 1.00 item
• Cocoa – 30 g | 1.05 oz
• Salt – a pinch | 0.00 pinch
• Chopped cashews | 0.00 to taste
• Melted chocolate – 40-50 g | 1.75 oz
• You can replace the chocolate with 30 g butter | 1.05 oz

For the chocolate cheese filling:

• Cream cheese – 550 g | 19.40 oz
• Milk chocolate – 300 g | 10.60 oz
• Brown sugar – 40 g | 1.40 oz
• Cream 33% - 200 g | 7.05 oz
• Egg – 2 pieces | 2.00 items
• Cocoa – 1 tablespoon | 1.00 tbsp
• Pitted cherries – optional | 0.00 to taste
• Chopped cashews | 0.00 to taste

For the chocolate ganache:

• Milk chocolate – 60 g | 2.10 oz
• Cream 33% - 30 g | 1.05 oz

Grind the butter with the powdered sugar and the sugar; add the egg.

Sift the cocoa and the flour; add salt, and whisk all the ingredients with a mixer until smooth (don’t whip!).

Roll up a ball, and wrap it in plastic; refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

Then, roll out a layer 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) thick, and bake it in the oven at 180C (356F) for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cool the chocolate shortcrust pastry, and grind it in a blender; add the chopped cashews.⠀

Next, add either melted milk chocolate or melted butter to reach the "working" consistency, and mix well.

Form a cheesecake base with the sides in a detachable ring mold (don’t forget to cover the bottom with parchment).

You can simply freeze the base instead of baking it (just place it in the freezer for 30 minutes). If you use the butter instead of chocolate, then you better bake the base for 15 minutes.

Grind the cream cheese with sugar and cocoa.

Add the eggs, and stir the mass with a whisk or a silicone spatula.

Melt the cream and the chocolate in the microwave with pulses (or in a water bath); add these ingredients to the cheese mass, and mix well (don’t use a mixer!).

Add the chopped nuts to the filling.

Lightly sprinkle the pitted cherries with cornstarch; pour half of the cheese filling on the base, and spread the cherries. Cover them with the rest of the filling.

Bake the cheesecake at 110-130C (230 to 266F) for 2 hours, using a water bath.

Let the cheesecake cool completely in the oven (you can open the door), and send it to the fridge for at least 8 hours!

Melt the chocolate and the cream in the microwave; stir the mix with a silicone spatula, and pour it over the cooled cheesecake.