**The Making of Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cheesecake**

To start making this classic dessert, one needs to make the crust. The recipe calls for 10 grams of crackers, which are broken down into fine crumbs using a food processor. A teaspoon of cinnamon is added to give it a unique flavor profile. The crackers, cinnamon, and 5 tablespoons of melted butter are processed together until well combined. This mixture is then pressed into a 9-inch springform pan, where it will be baked at 350°F for 12 minutes.

While the crust is baking, the filling can be prepared. For this, one needs to melt 5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. The chocolate is shaved into small pieces to prevent overheating, which would result in a bitter taste. To enhance the flavor, a tablespoon of instant espresso powder is added to the melted chocolate.

To make the filling, 1 and 3/4 pounds of cream cheese need to be softened to room temperature. This is an essential step, as the cream cheese should be soft and pliable before it's incorporated with other ingredients. The softened cream cheese is then mixed with 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. This mixture is whipped on medium-high speed until it becomes light and fluffy.

The next step is to add three eggs to the cream cheese mixture one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. A half cup of sour cream is then added to enhance the flavor and texture of the filling. The chocolate used earlier is cooled completely to prevent scrambling the eggs in the cake.

The cheesecake batter is then poured into the prepared springform pan over the crust. To prevent cracking, the oven door is opened after baking for 12 minutes, allowing the cheesecake to cool slowly within the oven. This process takes approximately an hour and a half. As soon as the cheesecake comes out of the oven, it's removed from the water bath and allowed to cool completely on a wire rack.

Once cooled, the cheesecake is drizzled with warm chocolate ganache made by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream in a double boiler over simmering water. The chocolate used earlier is shaved into small pieces and added to the hot cream. This mixture is then stirred until the chocolate has melted completely, resulting in a smooth and creamy ganache.

To serve, the cheesecake can be drizzled with additional warm chocolate ganache or sprinkled with chopped nuts for garnish. If desired, the cake's presentation can be enhanced by adding fresh fruit or whipped cream on top.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhen I bought beer contesta from Diana EST Strada in 1978 she was famous for her chocolate cheesecake I look through my old files and dug out the recipe I'm going to make it for her for lunch I think she'll be really surprised so the first thing I want to do is make the crust I need 10 gram crackers I'm just going to break them up into the food processor this is just a classic graham cracker crust with a little bit of cinnamon added to it just process them you want them really finely ground okay teaspoon of cinnamon cinnamon chocolate is a great combination and some melted butter about 5 tablespoons just going to pour it right into the food processor just give it a blitz put it into it 9 in Spring form pan so I'm just press this right into the pan I'm going to bake at 350° for 12 minutes in the meantime I'm going to make the filling perfect can't make chocolate cheesecake without chocolate so I'm going to do 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate just going to melt it best way to melt chocolate is to just chop it up in small pieces you don't want to overheat it otherwise it'll taste bitter and sort of burnt so just shave it like this when I melt chocolate I actually melted a little under melted because the heat just continues to melt the chocolate so into a double boiler it's basically a dish over a pan of simmering water not boiling and then to give it more flavor and this is interesting cuz must have been Diana's original idea to add coffee to chocolate really makes a difference so it's a tablespoon of instant espresso powder just going to let that hang out there you know when I first bought there for contesta I remember this cake so vividly because it was incredibly expensive that we used to sell it by the inch I don't know why I think it was $40 it's sort of like from 1978 it would be like a cake being $150 now we closed the door one night there was nothing left in the store except this one cake and somebody knocked on the door and said I I need something for dessert I need something chocolate I said all I have is this one cake it's incredibly expensive it's $40 I was really embarrassed and they said we'll take it and I thought I like this business this works for me so this is just melted now and I think the crust is all ready perfect smell the cinnamon okay now next thing I need for the filling is 1 and 3/4 lb of cream cheese it has to be at room temperature that's eight it's a big cake 1 cup of sugar 1/4 of a cup of corn starch teaspoon of good vanilla extract qu of a teaspoon of almond extract and just mix that together I'm just going to whip this on medium high speed until it's light and fluffy okay next are the eggs three eggs oh this is perfect it's nice and light so now I'm going to add the eggs one at a time if the cream cheese isn't room temperature it'll never incorporate the eggs next I isuse a half a cup of sour cream and now for the cool chocolate you want to make sure the chocolate is completely cool otherwise you'll scramble the eggs in the cake that's not pretty so just on very low speed this is such a decadent dessert I think maybe I'll give Diana what's left over to take home that's it so just like most cheesecakes this cake bakes in two parts first part is 350° for an hour and then I'm going to open the oven door and let it cool in the oven for an hour and a half that really prevents it from cracking so it cools very slowly this is about as decking As It Gets smooth it out and as if this isn't decadent enough I'm going to make some warm chocolate ganache and drizzle it over to the cake it's going to be so good and next I'm going to make Diana's classic carrot salad in 1978 when I bought Barefoot Contessa one of the most popular desserts that Diana strata made was this chocolate cheesecake it has lots of espresso in it has great flavor and I thought I'm just going to turn off the volume a little bit and add a drizzle of chocolate ganache I'm chopping up 1/4 of a pound of bittersweet chocolate I've got a double boiler that I made with a glass bowl and simmering water put the chocolate right in okay 1/4 of a cup of heavy cream and just heat those together just until the chocolate melts ganache is great for icing chocolate cakes but it's also terrific if you want to drizzle on a dessert if you haven't you know drizzle it on the plate but for this just going to drizzle it on the top of the chocolate cheesecake here's the cake does not look great I'm just going to take a spoon and just drizzle it on just a little rter cross well I would say dessert is done and now I'm going to start on the main coursewhen I bought beer contesta from Diana EST Strada in 1978 she was famous for her chocolate cheesecake I look through my old files and dug out the recipe I'm going to make it for her for lunch I think she'll be really surprised so the first thing I want to do is make the crust I need 10 gram crackers I'm just going to break them up into the food processor this is just a classic graham cracker crust with a little bit of cinnamon added to it just process them you want them really finely ground okay teaspoon of cinnamon cinnamon chocolate is a great combination and some melted butter about 5 tablespoons just going to pour it right into the food processor just give it a blitz put it into it 9 in Spring form pan so I'm just press this right into the pan I'm going to bake at 350° for 12 minutes in the meantime I'm going to make the filling perfect can't make chocolate cheesecake without chocolate so I'm going to do 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate just going to melt it best way to melt chocolate is to just chop it up in small pieces you don't want to overheat it otherwise it'll taste bitter and sort of burnt so just shave it like this when I melt chocolate I actually melted a little under melted because the heat just continues to melt the chocolate so into a double boiler it's basically a dish over a pan of simmering water not boiling and then to give it more flavor and this is interesting cuz must have been Diana's original idea to add coffee to chocolate really makes a difference so it's a tablespoon of instant espresso powder just going to let that hang out there you know when I first bought there for contesta I remember this cake so vividly because it was incredibly expensive that we used to sell it by the inch I don't know why I think it was $40 it's sort of like from 1978 it would be like a cake being $150 now we closed the door one night there was nothing left in the store except this one cake and somebody knocked on the door and said I I need something for dessert I need something chocolate I said all I have is this one cake it's incredibly expensive it's $40 I was really embarrassed and they said we'll take it and I thought I like this business this works for me so this is just melted now and I think the crust is all ready perfect smell the cinnamon okay now next thing I need for the filling is 1 and 3/4 lb of cream cheese it has to be at room temperature that's eight it's a big cake 1 cup of sugar 1/4 of a cup of corn starch teaspoon of good vanilla extract qu of a teaspoon of almond extract and just mix that together I'm just going to whip this on medium high speed until it's light and fluffy okay next are the eggs three eggs oh this is perfect it's nice and light so now I'm going to add the eggs one at a time if the cream cheese isn't room temperature it'll never incorporate the eggs next I isuse a half a cup of sour cream and now for the cool chocolate you want to make sure the chocolate is completely cool otherwise you'll scramble the eggs in the cake that's not pretty so just on very low speed this is such a decadent dessert I think maybe I'll give Diana what's left over to take home that's it so just like most cheesecakes this cake bakes in two parts first part is 350° for an hour and then I'm going to open the oven door and let it cool in the oven for an hour and a half that really prevents it from cracking so it cools very slowly this is about as decking As It Gets smooth it out and as if this isn't decadent enough I'm going to make some warm chocolate ganache and drizzle it over to the cake it's going to be so good and next I'm going to make Diana's classic carrot salad in 1978 when I bought Barefoot Contessa one of the most popular desserts that Diana strata made was this chocolate cheesecake it has lots of espresso in it has great flavor and I thought I'm just going to turn off the volume a little bit and add a drizzle of chocolate ganache I'm chopping up 1/4 of a pound of bittersweet chocolate I've got a double boiler that I made with a glass bowl and simmering water put the chocolate right in okay 1/4 of a cup of heavy cream and just heat those together just until the chocolate melts ganache is great for icing chocolate cakes but it's also terrific if you want to drizzle on a dessert if you haven't you know drizzle it on the plate but for this just going to drizzle it on the top of the chocolate cheesecake here's the cake does not look great I'm just going to take a spoon and just drizzle it on just a little rter cross well I would say dessert is done and now I'm going to start on the main course\n"