Recipe for "cheesecake-7"

NAME

     CHEESECAKE-7 - Amaretto-amaretti chocolate cheesecake
     This is adapted from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate
     Desserts,  (Knopf  1980).   It  won  me a blue ribbon at the
     Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Exhibition and Fair in  1983.
     If  you  ever find yourself in front of a firing squad, this
     makes an unbeatable last request.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 16)

          CRUST
     200 g     Amaretti (see note)
     30 ml     granulated sugar
     30 g      unsweetened chocolate (1 square)
     75 g      sweet butter
          FILLING
     180 g     semisweet chocolate
     200 g     Amaretti
     120 g     almond paste
     8 cl      Amaretto liqueur
     700 g     cream cheese at room temperature
     50 g      granulated sugar
     4         eggs (large or extra-large)
     12 cl     heavy cream

PROCEDURE (CRUST)

          (1)  Butter the sides only (not the bottom) of a  22-cm
               spring-form pan (6-8 cm deep).
          (2)  Grind the Amaretti very fine in a  food  processor
               or blender.  Mix with sugar in a mixing bowl.
          (3)  Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a dou-
               ble boiler, stirring occasionally.  Add the melted
               mixture to the Amaretti crumbs and sugar  and  mix
               thoroughly.    (Don't   wash  the  double  boiler;
               you'll be using it again in a minute.)
          (4)  Turn the mixture into the prepared pan.  With your
               fingers,  distribute it evenly over the bottom and
               press it down into a  very  firm,  compact  layer.
               Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

PROCEDURE (FILLING)

          (1)  Adjust rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven and
               preheat to 175 deg. C.
          (2)  Partially melt chocolate in the top  of  a  double
               boiler,  then  uncover  and  stir until completely
               melted.  Remove the top of the double  boiler  and
               set aside to cool.
          (3)  Break the Amaretti coarsely into a  bowl  and  set
               aside.
          (4)  Cut the almond paste into small pieces,  and  beat
               on  low speed with an electric mixer, while gradu-
               ally adding  the  Amaretto  liqueur.   Beat  until
               thoroughly mixed, and set aside.
          (5)  Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until
               smooth.   Add  the  sugar  and  beat  until smooth
               again.  Add the almond paste-Amaretto mixture  and
               beat  until thoroughly mixed.  Add the melted cho-
               colate and beat well again.  Add the eggs one at a
               time,  beating  at low speed until they are incor-
               porated after each addition.  Add the heavy  cream
               and  beat  until  smooth.  Add the coarsely broken
               Amaretti and stir gently only to mix.
          (6)  Turn into the prepared pan,  pouring  the  mixture
               over  the  bottom crust.  Rotate the pan gently to
               level the batter.  (Don't  worry  if  the  mixture
               comes almost to the top; it won't run over.)
          (7)  Bake 45 minutes.  It will seem soft and not  done,
               but  don't bake any more; it will become firm when
               chilled.  The top of the cake is supposed to  look
               bumpy because of the large chunks of Amaretti.
          (8)  Let cool  completely  at  room  temperature,  then
               carefully  remove  the sides of the pan and refri-
               gerate the cake (still on the bottom of  the  pan)
               for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight.

NOTES

     Amaretti are Italian almond-flavored wafer cookies. They are
     usually  sold in metal tins with the wafers wrapped in pack-
     ages of two inside the tin.  You can  also  buy  Amarettini,
     which are the same flavor but much smaller and not individu-
     ally wrapped. Since you're going to grind some of the wafers
     and  break  the  others into chunks, it doesn't matter which
     size you start with.  One brand is Amaretti di Saronna, Laz-
     zaroni & Co.
     This is an expensive cake, both in terms of the cost of  the
     ingredients ($15-$20) and the number of calories.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate to hard.  Time: 30 minutes preparation,
     45  minutes  baking,  overnight cooling.  Precision: measure
     ingredients carefully.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Jan Wolitzky
     AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA
     ihnp4!mhuxd!wolit