Mexican Hot Chocolate Cheesecake

The first time I ever considered adding something with a kick to chocolate was because of the movie Chocolat.  Everywhere I went I wanted to try it.  When I finally found it, I loved it.  I had no comprehension what pepper it was or how the sugar in the chocolate that helped to temper the heat of the chilies.

I didn’t even consider that I had already been eating chocolate with spice since I was a young girl. You see, for a long time, my favorite food was Chicken Mole.  Mole is a complex traditional sauce in Mexico that takes hours and hours to cook.  My dad became really good friends with the owners of a restaurant in Richland, Washington, called Las Margaritas.  From the moment I tried their mole I was in love and every time we went there, there was no doubt what I would order.

For my twelfth birthday, my dad asked if the owners would teach me to make it. I don’t know what i was more excited about, learning my favorite recipe or getting to go into a professional kitchen for the first time.  I stood on the line, right next to the other cooks, and made my own dinner. It was AWESOME.

Hilariously,  when I was 14,  I followed a recipe for Chicken Mole… that was meant for a restaurant.  Four gallons of sauce and twelve pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts later, my parents were not laughing.

©2016 – Photo by Rachel the Riveter

But back to the Mexican Hot Chocolate Cheesecake. I have always loved spiced chocolate.  It is amazing. And when a friend asked me to make a cheesecake based on Mexican Hot Chocolate, I knew what to do. I knew what I wanted.  And this is the result.  This is not rip your face off spicy.  Instead it leaves a very gentle tingle in the back of your throat.  It is rich, creamy, and intensely chocolate followed by a gentle warmth.  Try it, I promise you will like it!

Topping the Cheesecake

Okay, so you have a cheesecake that is rich and has a kick to it.  What do you top it with?  Sure, you can leave it as is, but to really elevate the flavor to the next level, where do you turn?

One of my favorite treats is a little bit of raspberry jam with brie on crackers.  Talk about delicious.  A few weeks ago, I found this amazing brie (do you guys want to see my favorite gourmet cheeses?) and bought a locally made raspberry jam.  But not the plain jam… I got raspberry jalapeño jam.

©2016 – Photo by Rachel the Riveter

Raspberry and chocolate go so well together and I suspected that the jalapeño would really compliment the cayenne pepper that is mixed into the cheesecake.  And man did it.  The sweetness of the raspberry really mutes the heat of the jalapeño and just boosts the warm tingle in the back of my throat.  You really have to give this a try.  I really love this cheesecake.  My son has declared it his favorite.  I’m sure I’ll make this again real soon, I sure hope you will too.

Print Recipe

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cheesecake

Votes: 10
Rating: 4.1
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Rate this recipe!

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

American

Prep Time

25 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Passive Time

4 hours

Servings

servings MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 25 Oreo cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted, but at room temperature

For the Filling

• 10 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 32 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper make sure there is no garlic in the powder!
• 4 large eggs room temperature

Topping

• 1 jar raspberry jalapeno jam

Course Dessert Cuisine American Prep Time 25 minutes Cook Time 45 minutes Passive Time 4 hours Servings servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients For the Crust 25 Oreo cookie crumbs 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted, but at room temperature For the Filling 10 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate chopped 32 ounces cream cheese room temperature 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper make sure there is no garlic in the powder! 4 large eggs room temperature Topping 1 jar raspberry jalapeno jam

Votes: 10 Rating: 4.1 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

For the crust

1. Prepare 8 inch springform pan by rubbing with butter or spraying with non-stick spray. I like to also line the bottom with a parchment circle and add a collar around the sides. This allows me to overfill the pan and get a taller, more stately cheesecake.
2. Blend cookies in food processor until finely ground. Add melted butter and process until well blended.
3. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of prepared pan, but avoid the sides. Place in your freezer while you prepare the filling. 🙂

For the filling

1. Stir chopped chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable.
2. Blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder in processor until smooth. Blend in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. Pour filling over crust; smooth top. If you have collared your cheesecake, you can use all the filling. If not, fill your pan 2/3 full. Cover top of springform pan with aluminum foil.
3. Pour 1 cup of water into the pressure cooking pot, and place the trivet in the bottom. Carefully center the filled pan on a foil sling* and lower it into the pressure cooking pot. Fold the foil sling down so that it doesn't interfere with closing the lid.
4. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and set the timer for 45 minutes. When beep sounds, turn off pressure cooker. use a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, and then do a quick pressure release to release any remaining pressure. When valve drops carefully remove lid. Remove cheesecake and check the cheesecake to see if the middle is set. If not, cook the cheesecake an additional 5 minutes.
5. Remove the springform pan to a wire rack to cool. Remove aluminum foil. When cheesecake is cooled, refrigerate covered with plastic wrap for at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the topping

1. When cheesecake is chilled, spoon jam onto the cheesecake, smoothing and adding more until you feel that you have enough. I used an entire 9 oz jar.

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