My Mom, bless her heart, has a serious addiction: Chocolate. This 85 years young dynamo must have chocolate every day. Chocolate cookies, chocolate cream pie, brownies, chocolate cake, hot fudge sauce, whoopee pies, hot chocolate, M&M’s, chocolate covered peanuts…chocolate anything is on her menu without fail. She recently confessed that her “stash” had somehow become depleted (gremlins, no doubt) which resulted in sheer panic until she scrounged around in her pantry and found some baking chocolate which suited her sweet tooth perfectly. (That is so off my radar screen as I would choose chicken livers over dark chocolate any day.)

What IS on my radar screen (front and center with flashing lights) is chocolate cheesecake. The crunchy chocolate almond crust and the rich (feels like velvet in your mouth) filling. Oh my. Chocolate nirvana.

image: ehow.com

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

For the Crust:
1½ cups fine chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
½ cup ground almonds
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
⅔ cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1½ teaspoons vanilla
3 teaspoons superfine sugar

For the Garnish:
½ ounce semisweet chocolate

To prepare the crust: Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Blend crust ingredients together and press onto bottom and up sides of pan. Refrigerate.

To prepare the filling: Beat cream cheese and ⅔ cup of sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Add melted and cooled chocolate mixing until combined. Add whipping cream, melted and cooled butter, and vanilla. Beat just until smooth. Pour into prepared crust and bake in a preheated 325° oven for 55-65 minutes or until edges are set. (Note: The center of cheesecake will be soft.) Cool in pan 5 minutes and then release and remove sides. Cool completely.

To prepare the topping: Combine sour cream with vanilla and sugar, mixing well. Spread over top of cooled cheesecake.

To prepare the garnish: Melt chocolate over low heat. Drizzle over sour cream topping from the tines of a fork. Refrigerate cheesecake for several hours or overnight before cutting.

Yields 16 servings.

Paula Anderson is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine, as well as a columnist for 3 Maine Newspapers with a focus on food, nutrition, and entertaining.