Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

It's becoming apparent that nothing says Valentine's Day to me like chocolate. And today will be no exception: I made the chocolatiest cheesecake I've ever had, courtesy of Chocolate Never Faileth by Annette Lyon. Oh, and in addition to being the chocolatiest, did I mention it's also probably the easiest cheesecake I've ever made?

Oh yeah.

The recipe is made for an 11x7 pan, but I went with my 9+" round springform. I lined the pan with a circle of parchment paper cut slightly larger than the bottom of the pan to make it easier to pull out. With the springform sides, the paper doesn't have to go up very far on the sides.

The cheesecake starts with a chocolate graham cracker crust, held together with butter and an egg white:

Even with very crunchy graham crackers, this gave the cheesecake a thick and soft crust that was very tasty! (I'm also not a fan of Oreo crusts, so this was another bonus.)

The cheesecake itself was easy:

• 2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese (I always use Neufchatel; it's lower in fat), softened
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 2 large eggs (if you only have medium in the house, also use the yolk leftover from the crust)
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. While that's working, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl (or double boiler, I guess, but seriously?), being careful not to burn them. Stir the sour cream into the cream cheese mixture. Beat the eggs into the cream cheese mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

Set aside 3/4 to 1 c of the cheesecake batter, and mix the chocolate chips into the rest of the batter. (Or, if you're illiterate like me, mix 3/4 to 1 c of the cheesecake batter into the chocolate chips. Comes out good both ways.) Pour the bigger batter batch onto the cooled crust. Drop the contrasting batter batch by small spoonfuls on top. Draw a butter knife--and careful not to mess up the crust--through the batter in swirling patterns to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 30-40 min at 325 F or until just set. Cool on a wire rack, then chill thoroughly. (It will be a little soft until chilled.)

The texture is smooth and rich, and has just the right amount of tang and sweetness. I forgot to get a picture until after I start cutting it in cheesecake squares, but I think it's still pretty tasty looking:

Yum!