Triple Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Crust

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, and this Triple Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Crust is probably my favorite type. There is nothing more velvety, rich, and decadent than this cheesecake. Making a cheesecake can be a little intimidating, but once you confront this challenge and nail it, you will want to make more! 

I have a couple of helpful tips to help prevent any surface cracking and keep the cake dreamy creamy throughout. 

The cheesecake starts with a crust made of Oreo cookies, which on its own, is so delicious and should be used in as many chocolate desserts as possible.  This crunchy chocolatey crust compliments the cheesecake perfectly.  The cheesecake base has an outstanding balance of cocoa and sweetness mixed with the tang from the cream cheese that would satisfy any chocoholic.

Creamy Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

The Triple Chocolate Cheesecake wouldn’t be triple unless it had a third layer of chocolate.  Top this cheesecake with a simple chocolate ganache, which takes this recipe from a 10 to a 100.  I promise you will never need to try another chocolate cheesecake recipe again!

Building Your Chocolate Cheesecake

The food processor will be doing the majority of the work for you and your first step in preventing cracks, more on that later.  Toss in the Oreo’s and sugar and give a pulse until you get small crumbs.  Drizzle in your melted butter and run until you get a wet sand-like texture.  Dump into your 9″ spring-form pan and press down, packing the Oreo crust starting from the center and working your way up to the sides.  Try using the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to help smooth out the cookie crumbs. 

Use 18-inch aluminum foil to cover the bottom and sides of the spring-form pan entirely, and set aside.

I give the food processor a quick rinse, and we are ready for the filling.  Add in your room temperature cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar, and salt.  Process until the cream cheese smoothes out. 

Add in your eggs and yolks in 2 additions, mixing in between, just until combined. 

Add melted chocolate, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. 

Blend until silky smooth, and the filling is an even chocolate color.  Scrape down the sides and give a final blend. 

Prepping The Triple Chocolate Cheesecake For Baking

The next couple of steps will help in reducing the chances of the cheesecake from cracking.  Baking your Triple Chocolate Cheesecake in a bain-maire is a must.  I know it’s an extra step and might seem daunting, but it makes a huge difference in preventing cracks and contributes to the smooth, creamy results.  Bain-marie sounds super fancy, but basically, it’s a hot tub for your cheesecake.  The idea is that by submerge your spring-form pan into a boiling water bath during baking, the water distributes heat evenly, and the cheesecake cooks at an equal rate.  The slow, even baking gives air bubbles time to escape: air bubbles = potential cracks.

3 Tips For Mastering A Bain-Marie:

1. It’s a scary thought placing a spring-form pan, which is detachable, into boiling water.  In the past, water has seeped in the bottom of the pan, making the crust soggy.  I thought I covered it thoroughly, wrapping with at least 5-6 layers, but it ended up being a simple mistake.  I used standard aluminum foil, which is only 12 inches and resulted in seams.  Water will find its way into every nook or cranny, so the solution is larger aluminum foil, so there aren’t any seams. Using 18-inch aluminum foil is the perfect size for the 9-inch spring-form.  It effectively covers the bottom and sides, so you do not need to overlap.  I do 2 layers just in case there might be any tares.
2. Using a roasting pan, typically recommended for your bain-marie, requires you to boil a lot more water and makes moving the bulky contraption very tedious.  Finding a pan that is about an inch or two larger than your 9-inch spring-form is ideal.  I use a 12-inch cake pan, which is the perfect height because the water bath only needs to go about halfway on the spring-form pan. 
3. A final tip is to fill your pan after you place the cheesecake in the oven.  Filling the pan in the oven makes moving the cheesecake easier and cuts down on the chances of water slushing into the spring-form.  For the video’s purpose, I did it on the counter, but it’s much more helpful to pull out the rack, place your 12-inch pan down first, put your cheesecake in, and then fill it with boiling water.       

Avoiding Cracks In Your Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

1. A food processor will help prevent cracks.  Whipping the ingredients with an electric mixer adds air.  In some cases, you want that air, but in cheesecake, no. 
2. Like I have mentioned, air bubbles lead to cracking.  Baking with a bain-marie helps, but some simple steps beforehand can help too.  I would typically say preheat your oven when you start the cheesecake, but I found that letting the cheesecake sit on the counter allows air bubbles time to escape.  So I assemble the cheesecake, wrap the foil around, and then turn on the oven.  The cheesecake sits, I will give it a tap or two, and you will see some bubbles on the surface; this is great, let them come out now.
3. After you have baked the Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, turn off the oven, remove the and open the door.  Let your cheesecake cool down gradually, for about an hour before removing.  Any sudden temperature changes to the cheesecake can also cause cracks.               

Preheat your oven and move your rack to the middle to let the heat circulate evenly.  Pour the cheesecake in the prepared Oreo cookie crust and sit on the counter.  Give the cheesecake a gentle tap against the counter to help air bubbles escape. 

While your oven is preheating and the cheesecake is “resting,” boiling your water for the bain-marie.  Once the oven reaches 350 F. degrees, pull out the rack and place down the 12-inch pan. 

Add your cheesecake to the center of the larger pan and carefully pour your boiling water so that it reaches at least halfway up the spring-form pan.  Slowly push the rack into place so no water splashes.  Now, let the cheesecake bake.

Dreamy, Creamy Cheesecake

My cheesecake took precisely 60 minutes to bake.  I began checking every 5 minutes around the 50-minute mark.  You are looking for the edges to be still and the center to have a slight jiggle when you wiggle the pan.  When you have reached that point, turn off the oven.  Carefully remove the spring-form pan from the bain-marie and peel the foil down.  Take out your larger pan with water, so it’s just your cheesecake in the oven, and leave the oven door ajar

Slowly Cool Your Cheesecake

In an hour, take the cheesecake out and let it come to room temperature.  Now you can chill it in the fridge.  While the cheesecake is chilling, make the ganache.  You can skip this part and be done, but then it would only be a double chocolate cheesecake, so let’s make the ganache.

Heat the heavy whipping cream to just before boiling and pour over your chocolate in a glass bowl.  Let this sit untouched for 4-5 minutes while the hot cream slowly melts the chocolate.  Use a whisk and stir the mixture until it’s well blended.  Add your butter and mix again.  As the ganache sits, it will thicken.  After your cheesecake chills for at least 2-3 hours and your ganache is room temperature, pour that heavenly chocolate liquid in the center of the cheesecake and use an offset spatula to spread evenly across the top.  Any extra? Do a second coat! 

Let the ganache set up in the fridge, and you are ready to enjoy this fantastic Triple Chocolate Cheesecake with Oreo Crust.

Crusty Cookie Crust:

Using the Bain-Marie technique will set the crust of your cheesecake to a nice crisp texture. However, if you are looking for your crust to have a more crusty, cookie-like texture, you can do a quick par-bake. After your oven preheats, set your springform pan with the unfilled crust that’s wrapped in foil in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the center feels firm. Remove from the oven and cool while you are making the cheesecake base. Fill and bake in the Bain-Marie as instructed.