from Junior's Cheesecake cookbook pages 121 and 122
I've added my own thoughts and changes in red.
For the crust:
1 recipe 9 inch Dark Chocolate Sponge cake crust (I used theirs but I'm sure you can use your own favorite)
Three 1.4 ounce Heath brand milk chocolate English toffee candy bars (I bought the snack size Heath bars for all of this. They were cheaper per ounce than the large bars. I don't think the extra chocolate hurt anything. I used about 4 ounces worth for the crust.
For the cheesecake:
One 8 ounce Hershey's milk-chocolate bar (I used a different brand)
Four 8 ounce packages cream cheese (use only full fat) at room temperature
1 2/3 cups of sugar (this is divided...use 1/3 at one time and 1 1/3 a little later I think slowly adding in the sugar would have been an option)
1/3 cup of cornstarch
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
For the topping:
Five 1.4 ounce Heath bars (for this I used about 7 ounces of the small bars)
Whipped Chocolate ganache rosettes (optional)
Makes one 9-inch Cheesecake About 2 1/2 inches high
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. wrap the outside with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides. Make and bake the crust and leave it in the pan. Keep the oven on. while the crust cools, chop 3 Heath bars with a chef's knife into small chunks and sprinkle over cooled crust.
2) Melt the Hershey's bar and set aside to cool. Put one package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl several times. Blend in the remaining cream cheese, one package at a time, scraping down the bowl after each one. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Blend in the melted chocolate, then the cream, beating until completely blended. Don't over mix!This made me laugh-beat the thing, blend it, but don't over mix it! Gently spoon the batter on top of the crust.
3) Place the cake in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Bake until the edges look baked and the top of the cake appears set, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the cake from the water bath, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 2 hours (just walk away-don't move it). Leave the cake in the pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cold, preferably overnight or at least 4 hours. Transfer to the freezer for 1 hour.
4)While the cake is in the freezer, cut 1 Heath bar into 2 equal pieces and reserve one for the center decoration. Chop the remaining 4 1/2 bars for the topping with a chef's knife into small chunks. If you want to decorate with the whipped cream rosettes. make the ganache and refrigerate for at least one hour.
5) To decorate, release and remove the sides of the springform, leaving the cake on the bottom of the pan. Place on a serving plate. Pipe shells or fleur-di-lis of ganaches around the bottom edge and top rim of the cake, if you wish. I didn't wish-so I poured the ganache over the top of the cake, starting near the edges to get the look I wanted. I then poured caramel sauce over the ganache-which was a complete waste. Maybe melted caramels would have had enough flavor to stand up to the ganache but the sauce did not. Sprinkle the candy chunks on top of the cake, covering it almost completely. Decorate the center with the reserved half of the Heath bar. This is probably a great idea if you need to advertise what type of candy bar is being used but seemed certain to cause contention when the cake was cut in my opinion (as in "I get that piece") so I didn't do it. :)
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice with a sharp straight edge knife, not a serrated one. Cover any leftover cake and refrigerate or freeze up to one month.
