CHOCOLATE BROWNIE CANDY CANE CHEESECAKE

Recipe:

Chocolate Brownie Candy Cane Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

 580g chocolate brownie (scraps or chunks of brownie)

 ¼ cup melted butter

Filling:

 2 tsp peppermint extract

 1/2 cup crushed candy canes

 4 egg yolks

 4 whole eggs

 1.5kg cream cheese

 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

 2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

 ¼ cup crushed candy canes

 2 cups whipping cream

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 1 tbsp icing sugar

 ¼ cup chocolate brownie crumbles

1. Preheat an oven to 350F 

2. Chop up or crumble the brownies into a fine crumb, then mix with the butter. Put the candy canes in a plastic bag, like a Ziploc, and crush them with a rolling pin or something similar. 

3. Line a 10” springform pan with parchment or wax paper and spray the base with nonstick spray.

4. Pack the crust into the bottom of the pan in an even layer, bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature.

5. Put the cream cheese and sugar into a food processor or mixer and mix for 1 minute until smooth. Add the peppermint extract, eggs, vanilla extract, and candy canes and mix together thoroughly. 

6. Spray the sides of the springform pan with nonstick spray and pour the filling over the crust; make sure you use a spatula to get all of the filling out of the mixer bowl.

7. Preheat your oven to 325F with an oven-proof container filled with hot water to give the oven humidity. Bake the cheesecake for 30-40 minutes until the center of the cake just barely jiggles when you shake it. 

8. Cool the cake to room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours before cutting. 

If your springform pan is new and you sprayed it thoroughly, you can skip this step: 

1.  If your pan is older and may have some scratches on it, you will need to wet a paring knife or a thin butter knife with hot water and run it around the edge of the cake between it and the springform pan to ensure none of it sticks and rips the cake apart when you go to remove it from the pan. Then gently pop open the brace on the springform pan and slowly expand the ring to loosen it, be aware of whether any of the cake is stuck to the pan and dislodge it if you need to. Gently lift the ring away from the cake and then tug at the edges of the parchment below the cake to slide it off of the pan base and onto a cutting board.

2. Fill a container that is deep enough to fit a knife into with hot water. Cut the cake into as many pieces as you like; this cake will get 12-16 good-sized pieces out of it. Between each cut you make rinse the blade off with the hot water to keep it clean and wet, that way each piece of cheesecake is clean and doesn’t have crumbs run through the sides.

3. For the topping, crush more candy canes. Separately mix the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and icing sugar and whisk vigorously until it is stiff. Crumble more of the brownies as well.

4. Serve the cheesecake with whipped cream and a scattering of crushed candy canes and more crumbled brownie.