Description
This is a show-stopper dessert! The cheesecake is so creamy and luscious, studded with chocolate chips and a faint cinnamon flavor. The mascarpone here takes a little edge off of the tang from the cream cheese. The ganache, speculoos cookies, and Hershey’s® kisses take it over the top. Perfect for a party!
Ingredients
- 12 cracker (2-1/2″ square)s cinnamon graham crackers
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups white sugar, divided
- 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 (8.8 ounce) package speculoos cookies (such as Lotus Biscoff®)
- 28 piece (blank)s milk chocolate candy kisses (such as Hershey’s Kisses®), unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with 4 layers of aluminum foil.
- Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until finely chopped. Add butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- and 1/2 teaspoon salt; pulse until incorporated
- about 5 times. Transfer crumb mixture to the prepared pan and press evenly over the bottom and halfway up the sides.
- Bake in the preheated oven until fragrant and starting to turn crispy
- 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool while you prepare the cheesecake filling. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Combine cream cheese
- mascarpone
- and remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy
- 1 to 2 minutes
- scraping down sides as necessary. Add sour cream
- vanilla
- cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix until combined
- about 30 seconds. Add eggs
- one at a time
- and mix on low until just incorporated. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.
- Pour cheesecake mixture into prepared cookie crust. Top cheesecake with 1/4 cup of the remaining chocolate chips and place entire pan into a large roasting pan. Transfer to the center rack in oven and carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come up 1 inch on the sides of the springform pan
- being careful to not let water get into cheesecake.
- Bake until filling is set but still slightly jiggly in the center
- 60 to 65 minutes. Turn oven off and prop the door open. Let cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and take cheesecake out of the roasting pan. Set aside to cool completely
- about 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled
- at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Place remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Microwave heavy cream until hot but not boiling
- about 1 minute. Pour over chocolate chips and let sit
- undisturbed
- for 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir until smooth and shiny. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
- While ganache cools
- run a sharp paring knife around edges of crust to loosen from pan. Remove sides of springform pan. Run knife around bottom of cheesecake to loosen. Gently shimmy
- or use large spatulas
- to transfer cheesecake onto a cake stand or serving plate.
- Top cheesecake with chocolate ganache leaving 1-inch uncovered around the perimeter of the cheesecake. Crumble speculoos cookies; sprinkle over ganache. Place candy kisses on top of uncovered perimeter of cheesecake. Slice and serve cold or at room temperature.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Total Time: 7 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 10