Chocolate-Guinness Cheesecake

Submitted by DrGaellon

"Adapted from a recipe by M. Wassenaar at Allrecipes.com. Time does not include the 45 minutes rest in the turned-off oven, nor the 4 hour chill in the fridge."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Crust

• 1 cup crushed chocolate cookies
• 1⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

• Filling

• 1 1⁄2 lbs cream cheese, softened (3 8-oz packages)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1⁄2 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 pinch salt
• 3⁄4 cup stout beer (e.g. Guinness)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Garnish

• 1 ounce semisweet chocolate

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Liberally butter a 9 inch springform pan, then wrap the base in heavy-duty foil. Set a kettle on to boil.
2. In a small bowl, mix the crushed chocolate cookies, butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cocoa until well moistened. Press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan; use a glass or measuring cup to pack the crust down firmly.
3. Place the cream cheese in a large bowl (or the work bowl of a stand mixer) and beat with an electric mixer set to low speed until smooth. Slowly add 1 cup sugar, then the eggs, one at a time. Continue beating until smooth.
4. Combine the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave until the chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Beat the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture. Add the sour cream, salt, beer, and vanilla; blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the crust. Place the pan into a large, deep baking dish. Place the pan on the middle rack of your oven. Fill the dish with boiling water halfway up the side of the springform pan.
5. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Turn oven off, leaving the cheesecake in the oven with oven door slightly ajar another 45 minutes; remove from oven. Run a thin knife along the edge of the cheesecake to loosen from pan. Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
6. Melt the semisweet chocolate in a small bowl using the microwave (stir every 20 seconds until fully melted). Make chocolate clovers by dropping 3 small drops of melted chocolate close to one another on waxed paper. Drag a toothpick from between two dots outward to make the stem; chill until hardened. Arrange the chocolate clovers on top of the chilled cheesecake for decoration.

Reviews

[jackieliz]

This was absolutely excellent. Guinness chocolate cake is my husbands favorite, I've been making it for years. I came across this recipe and decided to make it yesterday for his birthday. The cheesecake was moist and creamy, amazing. I read the other comments about the cake being too soft and decided to add another egg; with 4 eggs it came out perfectly. I also topped it off with the standard guinness chocolate cake frosting (cream cheese beat with whipping cream and splenda or pwd sugar). A wonderful new version of our favorite!

 

[Karen P.]

MUST like the flavor of beer or won't like this! I don't care for this cheesecake but my gourmet group loved it at our St Patrick Day dinner. Increased to 4 eggs, boiled entire bottle of Guiness to reduce down to 3/4 cup to increase beer flavor, decreased sour cream to 3/4 c. Still a little soft.

 

[Foodie in Olympia]

This recipe was just okay for me. Maybe I needed to drink the rest of the beer with it. It was moist andc reamy but a little soft as others mentioned. I made a chocolate cheesecake courtesy Nigella Lawson simultaneously for comparison and preferred hers but it was close. Still looking for a to-die-for recipe.

 

[Tricia Mendes]

Wonderful recipe, thank you! Like an earlier reviewer, I found the cheesecake a little too soft, so will reduce the liquid next time. It was a very popular dessert, with a wonderful flavour. Can't taste the Guinness specifically, just a very deep chocolate flavour. I have just realised I did not read the receipr properly, and put the crumbs all the way up the sides, and did not have enough!! Next time, I will do it properly!!! :-)

 

[Iceland]

I used DH´s chirstmas homebrew for this, a spiced stout. The cookied i used were soft enough to moist the crust and i also used some crackers. For the filling i used my 2 cups sourcream, 1 cup non fat cream cheese and 1 egg and 1 eggwhite and some brown sugar instead of white. I had to add some powdered gelatine - this made it fluffier and not as rich. I guess i used 1 cup beer though :-) What a delight! I love this cake, thank you so much for sharing! It gave us a great opportunity great to cook with homebrew :-)