Brie Cheesecake with Bitter Chocolate

          I'm not a baker, I hate teaspoons, I hate waiting, and my cookies are apt to turn into biscuits. Because of this, rather than try to work from the "baking basics" upward, I decided to go after the top-of-the-line desserts, the big cheeses so to speak.

          After learning an excellent plain cheesecake recipe though, I wasn't content; it just wasn't interesting enough. Then one day it occurred to me that Brie is a dessert cheese, so I set upon putting it in a cheesecake! After checking to see if anyone else had done this, I was impressed with this recipe, and then adapted it. I took out the white chocolate because I personally find it cloying and I decided to garnish with dark chocolate to contrast the cake and simplify the flavor palate. I also added more Brie because I wanted it to take the spotlight. Last, this recipe is crustless, which I think is pretty brilliant idea. Also, I don't add berries to the cake because one: they tend to dominate the flavor and two: everyone does berries. So know that you know all that, I hope you love this unconventional and elegant cheesecake recipe!

                      Ingredients:                      Equipment Needed: 

                         -24 oz Cream Cheese                  -2 Mixing Bowls

                         -About 16 oz Brie                        -Large Baking Pan

                         -1 Cup Sugar                              -Electric Mixer

                         -2 tsp Vanilla Extract                 -Aluminum Foil (optional)

                         -Pinch of Salt                              -Paring Knife                  

                         -5 Eggs               

                         -Quality Dark Chocolate


Preparation/Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Serves: 8-12

Difficulty Rank: Takes Some Work

          So all of the ingredients are fairly easy to find. Basically 24 oz of cream cheese is 3 of the little boxes, or about 1 and 1/2 pounds. You will need about a pound of Brie, which was 2 wedges for me; the rind/skin needs to be removed from the Brie before mixing it. As for the chocolate, I got a bar of it at Trader Joe's. The primary thing to keep in mind is to make sure all the ingredients are room temperature before starting; I even had to heat the Brie up slightly to get it to mix smoothly. The most important step is to mix the two cheeses separately before blending them together. This is because they have different consistencies that won't blend right out of the box.

Tips to Prevent Cracking:
-Let the cake cool for at least 2 hours at room temperature before putting it in the fridge; this prevents it from contracting too fast and cracking.
-Once the eggs are in the batter, do not over-beat it because too much air in the batter will cause the cake to crack as the air expands from the oven heat.
-Butter the sides of the pan generously so that the cake can separate easily.
-Use a water bath if you can, this helps the temperature stay even around the cake.
-Bake at a low temperature so that the cake cooks evenly; think of how grilling chicken too hot causes the outside to burn while the inside stay raw, this is the same case with baking too hot.
-I have not tried this method yet, but if you can't use a water bath, I have heard adding a spoon of cornstarch into the batter will  help prevent cracking.

In-a-nutshell Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 F or 150 C.
2. Blend Brie(de-rinded) and Cream Cheese separately until smooth. Then blend together.
3. Add sugar, vanilla, salt then blend.
4. Blend while adding eggs one at a time.
5. Butter springform pan and wrap in foil.
6. Pour in mixture.
7. Place in "water bath".
8. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
9. When done, let cool for 2 hours then chill in fridge overnight.
10. Garnish cake with chocolate shavings.

Detailed Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 Fahrenheit or 150 Celsius.

2. Take the room temperature cheeses and blend each one in its own bowl until smooth; then mix the two together. This is because if you try placing them together at first, the Brie will stay in chunks. Make sure the white skin is removed from the Brie.

3. Add 3/4 to 1 cup sugar based on how sweet you like it; then add 1-2 tsp of vanilla based on your preference. Last throw in a pinch of salt and blend together.

4. While blending at a low speed, at 5 eggs one at a time so that they mix evenly.

5. Once the mixture is done, butter or oil the inside of your springform pan. Mine is not very good so I crammed butter in the cracks to help repel water that might leak in. I also wrapped foil around my pan to help keep water out, although if you have a good quality pan you won't need to do this.

6. Once the pan is prepared, pour in the cheesecake mixture, don't worry that there is no crust, it will taste better without it.

5. Buttering the Pan.                  7. Pan inside "water bath".

7. Place the pan into a larger baking dish and fill that dish with hot water about halfway up the springform pan. This "water bath" will help the cheesecake cook evenly and prevent it from cracking, basically find any larger pan that has depth to create the water bath.

8. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, the cake should be slightly jiggly in the center but mostly set.

9. Once you take the cake out remove it from the water bath and let it cool for 2 hours* before chilling it in the fridge overnight.

*If you put it in the fridge sooner, the sudden temperature change will cause the cake to contract too fast and it will crack.

10. The next day, garnish it with chocolate shavings and sea salt. You can make chocolate shavings by taking a paring knife and pulling it against the bar (just be careful not to cut yourself!). If you want longer shavings, place the bar in a warm oven for 10 seconds and then try again.

  Brie Shavings from Chopping the Bar.          Brie Shavings from Peeling Warmed Bar.