twenty-eight.

That's how old I am today. So I thought I would share one of my favorite cheesecake recipes (you can never have enough cheesecake recipes!) and one of the favorite birthday desserts that I have made for Brent. (It's time intensive but oh-so-delicious.)

Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake

Crust:

1 9 oz. box chocolate wafer cookies
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
7 Tbsp. hot melted butter, unsalted

1. Finely grind cookies, chocolate, sugar, and nutmeg in processor or blender. Add butter and process until crumbs begin to stick together, about 1 minutes.
2. Transfer crumbs to 10-inch springform pan with 3-inch high sides. Wrap plastic wrap around fingers and press crumb mixture firmly up sides to within 1/2 inch of top edge, then over bottom of pan.

Ganache:

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
20 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Kahlua

1. Bring cream to a simmer in large saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlua. Whisk until chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth.
2. Pour 2 cups of the ganache over bottom of crust. Freeze until ganache is firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve remaining ganache; cover and let stand at room temp. to uses later.

**I made the crust and ganache a day before the rest of the cheesecake, so the ganache needed to be warmed in microwave for about 15 seconds and then stirred. I also moved the crust to the fridge after 30 minutes.

Filling:

4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. dark rum (I used Kahlua instead)
2 Tbsp. instant espresso powder
2 Tbsp. ground espresso coffee beans
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. light molasses
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with the rack in the middle of oven.
2. Mix cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until blended. Beat in flour. Stir rum, instant espresso, coffee, vanilla, and molasses in a small bowl until the instant coffee dissolves; beat into cream cheese mixture. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Pour filling over cold ganache in crust. Place cheesecake on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake unti lthe top is brown, puffed, and cracked at edges, 1 hour and 5 minutes. (I added 10-15 minutes.) Transfer to rack. Cool 15 minutes, maintaining oven temperature.

Topping:

1 1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Reserved ganache to garnish

1. Whisk sour cream, sugar and vanilla to blend. Pour topping over hot cheesecake, spreading to cover filling completely.
2. Bake until topping is set, about 10 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Refrigerate hot cheesecake on rack until cool, about 3 hours.
3. Run sharp knife between crust and pan to loosen; release pan sides. Transfer cheesecake to a platter.
4. Spoon reserved ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip. Pip 6 diagonal lines atop cheesecake, spacing 1-inch apart. Repeat in opposite direction, making lattice design. Garnish with coffee beans if desired. Chill until lattice is firm, at least 6 hours.