Chocolate Lover's Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup SCHARFFEN BERGER cacao nibs

Filling

• 2 (9.7 ounce) bars SCHARFFEN BERGER 62% semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped*
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons SCHARFFEN BERGER natural cocoa powder
• Three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the outside tightly with aluminum foil. Have a roasting pan ready and put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath. To make the crust: Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and nibs in a medium bowl until combined well. Press the mixture onto the bottom and about 1-inch up the sides of the prepared pan.

Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes, until set. Let cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling: Melt the chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Remove the bowl from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar, beginning on low speed and increasing to medium-high, in a large deep bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the chocolate mixture just until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined well, scraping down the sides of the bowl again.

Transfer the filling to the springform pan. Set the pan in the roasting pan, place it in the oven, and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is almost set but still slightly jiggly; do not overbake, the cheesecake will firm as it cools. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.

Remove the springform pan and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then remove the foil and refrigerate the cheesecake, loosely covered, until thoroughly chilled, at least 12 hours, or for up to overnight.

To serve, let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Run a table knife around the edge of the pan, remove the pan sides, smooth the side of the cheesecake, and serve cut into wedges.

Note: If you can't find the specific chocolate called for, you can substitute another chocolate with about the same intensity-the higher the percent of cacao solids (labeled as % cacao) in a bar, the more intense the chocolate flavor. Bars labeled simply as bittersweet, semisweet or dark can be used in any recipe calling for any recipe calling for chocolate of less than 70% cacao.