Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

Submitted by newmama

"adapted from a couple blogs, this cheesecake is impressive but easy. don't let the amount of steps scare you off, they are all simple to execute. feel free to use any brownie recipe you like!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 1 cheesecake
• Serves: 12-16

ingredients

• Brownies

• 1⁄2 cup butter, melted
• 1⁄2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄2 cup flour

• Cookie Crust

• 2 cups Oreo cookies, crumbs
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄3 cup sugar, cup
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt

• Cheesecake

• 24 ounces cream cheese, room temp (philidalpia regular is best)
• 4 eggs, room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Ganache Topping

• 4 ounces dark chocolate (semisweet or whatever you like is fine too)
• 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

directions

1. brownies:

2. whisk together butter and cocoa until smooth, then whisk in eggs and vanilla. stir in four and salt until all moist. pour into greased 8x8 in pan and bake at 250 for about 25 minutes. cool completely- refrigerate until cold to cut perfectly neat cubes. you will need 2 cups of 3/4-1 in brownie cubes for the recipe. eat the rest :) i usually make them the day before, you need about half of the pan, or a little less.

3. crust:

4. mix all ingredients and press into 9 or 10 in greased springform pan about 1 in up the sides and on the bottom, refrigerate until ready to use.

5. cheesecake:

6. beat cheesecake until fluffy, slowly beat in sugar scraping the sides until all smooth.
7. beat in eggs one at a time on low and beat in vanilla, don't overmix it. gently fold in the brownie cubes and pour into crust.
8. bake at 350 for 45 minutes, outside will be golden and completely set and the middle will wobble a bit.
9. cool completely.

10. ganache:

11. chop chocolate and put in a bowl, heat ganach until just bubbling and pour it over chocolate. whisk until smooth and stir in vanilla.
12. pour over the cheesecake and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.