Low Fat Chocolate Cheesecake

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I…have a confession to make.  *wrings hands*  I’m not quite sure how to tell y’all this but.  *sigh*

I AM AN ANIMAL MURDERER!

There!  I said it!  It’s out in the open.  I have killed dozens of animals!  No, I don’t know how I sleep at night or how I can live with myself.  I killed dozens of animals just making this cheesecake alone!

*giggles*  Animal CRACKERS that is.  I couldn’t honestly hurt a fly…spider maybe, but fly probably not.  Fruit fly?  Yeah, sure!  Stink bug!  HELLS to da YEAH!!  Animals?  Not in a million.  I brake for squirrels…  Just saying.

WalMart does NOT have chocolate graham crackers.  No matter what mantra I use, they’re just not going to carry them.  The last chocolate cookies I use just didn’t cut it for some reason.  The texture and crumb just didn’t do my cheesecake justice.

You should have seen the happy dance I did when I found these little buggers!  And they’re inexpensive!  Cheap crack for my addiction!  Yipee skippy!!  I was so excited, I forgot to measure the crackers before slaughtering them.  I processed 1 1/2 cups worth of crumbs.  It wound up being approximately 2 large handfuls of crackers.  Then, while the crackers were processing, I poured the 2 tablespoons if ICBINB in the top so it drizzled evenly over all the chocolatey goodness.

I covered the bottom of my springform pan with aluminum foil and then pressed the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides.  I used the bottom of a high ball glass covered in plastic wrap to make sure it was nice and even up the sides of the pan.  I love this technique!

This went into the 350 oven for about 8 to 10 minutes; or until you start to smell the crust.  Remove it from the oven and allow it to cook completely before putting the filling in the pan.

Allow the yogurt to drain overnight in a strainer with either cheesecloth, coffee filters, or paper towels and set over a bowl to catch the weigh.  This will produce a thick yogurt cheese and should yield 1 cup of cheese.  You may need to empty the bowl depending on how large it is.  While your crust is cooling, set the cottage cheese in a strainer with the same method and allow it to drain for at least 30 minutes.

Once both are drained, measure 1 cup of each and process in the bowl of a food processor until completely smooth and no lumps are visible.  Okay…I have to confess.  Is it anal of me to want to strain this mixture before continuing?  *snort*  There really should be NO LUMPS what so ever.

This is the standard base I’ve used for the last three experiments.  I like the flavor and when not curdled the texture.  It has a nice tang without sour cream, and has a creamy consistency.  You can adjust the sugar to your liking.  The cranberry one I had 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  I thought that was too much.  I only added 1 cup here.  It might have  been too little considering the dark chocolate I used.

I should have perused the candy aisle for darker chocolate bars.  I’m more of a 70% or darker girl myself.  I CAN.NOT stand milk chocolate.  It’s too sweet for me.  And not to say that Hershey is bad…it’s just not my favorite chocolate.  I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to that.  Dark chocolate and peanut butter…my specialties.

I always melt my chocolate in the microwave.  Don’t hate!  I don’t have a double boiler and don’t feel I need to dirty two more pots when tempering it in my micro works just fine for me.  I’m not making candy with it…it’s just getting dumped into a cheesecake, or brownies, or a cake.  You just need to taste it and not see it.  So, untwist your panties.

I forgot to get a shot of it before it baked. And it baked into this CRATER of a crack! Yeah, that’s gonna be next to conquer. Trying to get it NOT to crack. It’s fun experimenting though!! 🙂   This one cooked perfectly except for the crack. It’s creamy and smooth. It didn’t curdle and it’s not dry on the edges. It’s chocolately goodness.