Triple Layer Cheesecake

I have wanted to make this cheesecake for a long time. I was just waiting until all the Christmas treats were gone. This recipe is courtesy of my grandma. Recently, I inherited all her recipes. After she passed away in 2007 they originally went to my aunt. A couple months ago I was craving my Grammy’s roast beef; it was her signature dish. Anytime I went to visit her (which was often) she would make it for me. I never thought to ask her for the recipe. Therefore, I emailed my aunt, asking if she knew how to make this delectable roast beef. Lucky for me she did. That email was all the incentive my aunt needed as an excuse to bring me over a box containing all Grammy’s recipes. My aunt was looking for someone to pass these recipes along to the “next generation” she said, and since I was the first to inquire about a recipe, and she lives near me, she gave me the whole stash; a whole treasure trove of recipes for me to sift through at my leisure.

Some of the recipes are typed, some handwritten, others were clipped from various newspapers ranging anywhere from 1941-2004. I came across this cheesecake and stopped. I don’t remember my grandmother ever making cheesecake. So this recipe intrigued me. I wondered where (or from whom) the recipe came and if Grammy had ever made it. It sounded rich and decadent, exactly the thing to curb my recent chocolate craving.

Since there are only two of us, I reduced the recipe by 1/3 to make one small, 4 ½ inch cheesecake. I’m so glad I didn’t make the full amount, this cheesecake is so rich that I could only eat a small sliver. Each of us had a piece and there is still ¾ of the cheesecake remaining, but we both agreed this was really, really good. If you want a full-sized, 9 inch cheesecake, multiply the ingredients by three scroll to the bottom of the post. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is not going to last much longer in our fridge.



Triple Layer Cheesecake
Printer-friendly Recipe
Yeild: one 4 ½ inch cheesecake

crust:
¾ c chocolate cookie crumbs (~6 oreo cookies)
1 Tbl butter, melted
dash cinnamon

filling:
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
¼ c sugar
1 Tbl + 2 (generous) tsp yogurt
1 Tbl flour
¼ tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 oz (~1/3 c) peanut butter chips
2 oz (~1/3 c) dark chocolate chips
2 oz (~1/3 c) white chocolate chips


for the crust:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 4 ½ inch springform pan. If desired, line the bottom with parchment paper and grease.

Combine ingredients, pat into prepared pan. I used the bottom of a glass to smash it down. Bake 7-1o minutes at 375F.

for the cheesecake:
Reduce oven to 300F

Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Then mix in yogurt, flour, and vanilla. Beat in egg to combine.
Set aside.

Melt the peanut butter chips in a bowl, in 3o second intervals until melted, stirring in between. Set aside. Repeat for the dark chocolate and white chocolate, melting each kind in its own bowl.

Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly among all three bowls of melted chips.

Pour the peanut butter chip and cream cheese mixture into the crust. Using a rubber spatula, smooth out the layer, making it as even as possible. Top that layer with the dark chocolate mixture, the follow with the white chocolate, spreading and smoothing each layer.

Bake 35-45 minutes, until top is golden, edges are set and center moves slightly. Remove to wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around edge of pan, allow to set for 1 hour. Remove from springform pan to serving dish.

Add 2 Tbl of each chip into its own snack sized Ziploc bag. Seal the bags and microwave 20-30 sec, and massage bag to ensure all chips are melted. Once melted, snip a small hole in the corner of one bag and drizzle over cheesecake. Repeat for the remaining two bags of melted chips. Refrigerate til serving.

NOTE: due to popular demand, click here for the 9" cheesecake recipe