Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

This dessert. It is like a dream come true. My husband loves cheesecake. I love cheesecake. What am I totally unsuccessful at baking? Yep, that would be cheesecake. Luckily, after my first disastrous attempt at baking one from scratch I found a relatively simple recipe on the web for a “no-bake” version. While the recipe I had found is good, it’s a bit boring. A few weeks ago I made the first version of this recipe based on having some mascarpone cheese in the fridge that was about to go bad. The first time I made this I did not give it enough time to set and it was therefore a bit of a mess…but oh my did it taste good so I knew I was on to something. I tried it out again the next weekend and finally got it. Then, I decided to make it again to bring to work for my birthday. And then again the next day for a dinner party. Am I sick of it yet after 4 times in just over a month? Nope…not at all!

So…here is what you need for this delectable dessert…

Butter, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Vollkorn (or Graham) Crackers, Cream Cheese and Mascarpone Cheese

To get started, melt up the chocolate. I use a double boiler as with my luck I would scorch the chocolate with any other method.

There are few sights in this world I like more than melted chocolate. Set this aside to let it cool down.

While the chocolate is melting, use a food processor to grind the crackers up.

You will need about 3 cups in total.

Meanwhile, melt the butter (but don’t be like me, forgetting a paper towel resulting in a butter covered microwave) and then mix it up with the ground up crackers. Mix this up well and then spread it out in your pan. I used a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Then compact the butter & cracker mixture to make a crust. When done, put this in the freezer while you make the next layer.

Mix up 1 can of sweetened condensed milk with 2 packages of cream choose and one package of the mascarpone cheese. I used a pretty high speed for about 2 minutes. Yum…

Then add the chocolate…

Mix it up on a high speed again for around 2 more minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times so it is consistently mixed. This looks so very good…

Spread it out over the chilled crust, and then put this back in the freezer while you make the next layer.

Mix up the remaining 1 can of sweetened condensed milk with 2 packages of cream choose and one package of the mascarpone cheese. Again, I used a pretty high speed for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, I cut open a vanilla bean a scraped out the seeds. After scraping the sides of the bowl I added the vanilla bean and whipped for 2 more minutes until it is light and fluffy. Spread over the top of the chocolate layer.

I put this in the freezer overnight, and then moved to the fridge in the morning. In the past, the top layer had always been a little runny, so I wanted to ensure it was set.

There are no words. This is just SO good!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

Ingredients
150 grams Butter, melted (around 11 tablespoons)
300 grams Leibniz Vollkorn Crackers, ground (or around 3 cups of graham crackers)
2 cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 tubs Cream Cheese
2 tubs Mascarpone Cheese (250 g each)
200 grams Chocolate, melted (I used Milka Zartherb)
1 Vanilla Bean

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, grind up the crackers and mix in the melted butter. Spread out in a 9 x 13 cake pan and compact to make a crust. Put in the freezer while making the chocolate layer. Combine 1 can of the sweetened condensed milk, 2 containers of the cream cheese and 1 container of the mascarpone cheese in a stand mixer on a high speed for 2 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate, and mix for another 2 minutes on high. Spread this evenly over the chilled crust and then put back in the freezer while making the vanilla layer. Combine 1 can of the sweetened condensed milk, 2 containers of the cream cheese and 1 container of the mascarpone cheese in a stand mixer on a high speed for 2 minutes. Add the scraped vanilla bean, and mix for another 2 minutes on high. Spread this evenly over the chocolate layer and chill for at least 12 hours before serving. Enjoy!