Molly Cookie

S’mores Cheesecake

Jun 20, 2010 Cakes, Chocolate, Food Things, Marshmallows

Before I get to the S’mores Cheesecake, which is absolutely delicious, I want to give an update.

Three weeks ago Brian and I adopted a puppy, and he is perfect. He is the reason you haven’t seen much of me lately. For one, I haven’t been cooking as much now that I’m severely distracted by a cute little baby. When I’m playing with him I don’t really think about writing or cooking or anything else that I usually think is fun. He’s just so darn cute. Now though, I think we are starting to settle in and learn to live without staring at him 24/7. I might slowly start to remember who I am here pretty soon.

I thought tonight I’d go ahead and introduce him to you. This is Hurley. He is a part Australian Shepherd part Blue Heeler super cute puppy:

I’m sure you’ll hear a lot about him as the years go on. For now, let’s stick to the cheesecake.

This is my dad, Tim. I made the cheesecake for him for Father’s Day. My dad is truly the friendliest person I know. If it were up to him I think he would have a big party every single weekend and make tons of food. He is the person who taught me how to have fun in life. If there is anyone who loves and appreciates the little things in life it is definitely him. I’m so lucky to have such a great dad. I figured cheesecake was a pretty good way to tell him that.

I honestly can’t think of a better summer cheesecake than S’mores Cheesecake. S’mores are a very outdoorsy, summertime dessert, and for those of us who just want another excuse to eat cheesecake, making one out of the same ingredients you would make s’mores with is just perfect. I first made this cheesecake a year ago, before I had this blog, but making it was part of my inspiration to start something like this. I loved making it. I served it as Brian’s birthday dessert at his party, and it was a huge hit. I mean, everyone really, really loved it. I had never had such a good response from a dessert, and I started to think… hey… maybe I should do this more often. Everyone loved it again today.

It’s such a great and easy recipe, and it’s probably pretty hard to mess up. If you want a super impressive dessert to make without making a ton of dishes dirty, this is it. All I put in my dishwasher afterwards was my food processor, two bowls, a whisk and a spoon. Pretty awesome. You do have to start a day ahead, but each part only takes a short amount of time to do. You won’t spend hours of attention on it. Most of the time it sits in the refrigerator and magically it turns out delicious.

I got the recipe from Bon Appetit, and they suggest serving it with summer berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries). I’m sure that’s wonderful, but it honestly didn’t need anything extra, so I left the berries out. The berries make it seem a little more summery, but it’s so delicious without them that I didn’t feel like anyone would miss them. They didn’t.

S’mores Cheesecake from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (made from 9 whole crackers finely ground in processor)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

• 9 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt or Ghiradelli), chopped **Molly Note: I used Hershey’s milk chocolate chips and it tasted awesome. You can go with the expensive stuff if you want, but just in case you want to go with Hershey’s you can know it tastes wonderful.
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 large eggs

Topping:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 12 large marshmallows, cut into quarters with wet kitchen scissors
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pint fresh raspberries (if using)
• 1 pint fresh blueberries (if using)

Directions

For crust: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir until mixture is evenly moistened. Press onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until set, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven; cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
For filling: Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until smooth. Remove from over water and cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and salt in processor and blend until smooth. With motor running, add whipping cream through feed tube and process just until blended. With motor running, add melted chocolate, then add eggs 1 at a time, blending and scraping down sides after each addition until mixture is smooth. Pour batter over crust in pan.
Bake cake until outer edge is slightly puffed and cake is barely set in center (center will look shiny and move slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack. Run small sharp knife around cake to loosen. Chill uncovered until cold, 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.
For topping: Whisk sugar, egg whites, 3 tablespoons water, cream of tartar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to blend in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens and is hot to touch, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water and stir in marshmallows (keep water simmering in saucepan). Let stand until marshmallows soften, about 3 minutes. Set bowl with mixture over simmering water; using hand held electric mixer, beat until stiff shiny peaks form, about 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Scrape topping onto cheesecake. Using offset metal spatula, spread topping to edges of cake, swirling decoratively. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Using kitchen torch, lightly brown topping in spots. (Or preheat broiler; place cake at least 4 inches from heat source and broil just until topping is lightly browned in spots, watching closely to avoid burning, about 2 minutes.) Chill cake until cold. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and keep chilled. Remove pan sides. Place cake on platter.
Mix raspberries and blueberries in medium bowl. Cut cake into wedges. Serve berry mixture alongside (if you want).

Tags: bon appetit s'mores cheesecake, cheesecake, S'mores, s'mores cheesecake, s'mores desserts, summer cheesecake, summer dessert