I never say no to a cappuccino. Like many, I find the combination of coffee and frothy milk to be irresistible, and it was my love for that beverage that inspired this caffeine-charged cheesecake. The chocolate crust (because a little bit of chocolate goes so nicely with a cappuccino) is made from Oreo Thins, as Nabisco very rudely stopped making their Famous Chocolate Wafers. No need to remove the cream filling from the thins – just toss the cookies in the food processor and whir away. The source of the coffee flavor is two-fold, coming from a subtly infused cream as well as finely ground coffee espresso beans. A generous topping of whipped cream stands in for the frothy milk, and a light sprinkling of ground espresso adds a little contrast and more coffee punch.

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Makes one 9-inch cake

Special Equipment: Turkey-size oven bag, such as this one

Ingredients

Chocolate Espresso Crust

• 2 cups (218 grams) Oreo Thins crumbs (when processing, include the filling; you will use about 29 cookies)
• 2 teaspoons (3 grams) finely ground espresso roast coffee beans
• 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Espresso Filling

• 1 cup (232 grams) heavy cream
• ¼ cup (18 grams) espresso roast coffee beans, coarsely ground
• 32 ounces (907 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
• 4 large (200 grams) eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon (4.5 grams) finely ground espresso roast coffee beans

Whipped Cream Topping

• 1 1/3 cups (tk grams) heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• ¼ cup (tk grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Garnish

• Finely ground espresso roast coffee, for sprinkling on top of cake

Instructions

Make the crust

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place the cookie crumbs in a medium bowl and stir in the espresso. Stir in the melted butter and mix until evenly blended. Pat the mixture into bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is set and fragrant. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool the crust completely. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°

Make the filling

3. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream with the coarsely ground espresso until just beginning to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes.

4. Pour the infused cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup (discard the coffee beans) and re-measure the cream – you should have ¾ cup (174 grams); adjust the amount as needed.

5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until very creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy, about 4 minutes more. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula once or twice. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until blended. Add the coffee-infused heavy cream and the finely ground espresso and mix until blended, scraping down the bowl again to make sure the mixture is evenly blended. Pour the batter into the cooled crust.

Bake and chill the cake

6. Carefully place the cake pan into a turkey-size oven bag, with the opening at the top, then place the whole thing in a roasting pan. Leave the bag open, bunching it up around the top of the pan like a short collar. Fill the roasting pan with hot water so that it comes about a third of the way up the side of the cake pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven, making sure that the turkey bag is not touching the top element of the oven, and bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes – the center will still be quite wobbly. Turn the oven off (don’t open the door), and let the cake stay in the oven for another 1 ½ hours.

7. Remove the cake from the water bath and the roasting bag and let it cool completely on a wire rack; the filling will be slightly wobbly, but will firm up as it cools.

8. Refrigerate the cake for at least 6 hours, until well chilled (I usually let it chill overnight).

Make the topping

9. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream with the vanilla at medium-high speed until soft mounds begin to form. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and whip until medium-firm peaks form. Pile the cream on top of the chilled cheesecake and sprinkle with a little finely ground coffee. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recommended Equipment:

Lumintrailx Fat Daddios Springform Cake Pan, 9 x 3 Inch