As its name implies, Kahlua and Cream Cheesecake is Kahlua and Cream in cheesecake form.

This weekend marks one year since my sister died. I think God is watching out for me because a few days ago I got an unexpected e-mail from an old friend who happens to be in town this weekend. He needed a place to stay and I have several empty bedrooms at this point. Catching up with an old friend coupled with some cooking classes made a difficult time much easier.

A year ago I also did my first post here on Chocolate, Chocolate and more so this is also my blogiversary. Since my first post was a drink, Cambodian Iced Coffee, I thought I’d go with a drink for this post as well.

Thing is, I’m not a fancy drink person. So I decided to convert Joan’s favorite drink into a cheesecake. She loved cheesecake so I think she would approve.

Joan loved her Kahlua and creams. She never skimped on the cream either. Our grandfather was a dairy farmer so dairy is important to both of us. Joan only drank whole milk and when she made a Kahlua and cream, she used cream, not milk.

The Kahlua comes through in the cheesecake but it just wasn’t Kahlua and creamy enough for me so I topped it with a generous helping of Kahlua whipped cream. Kahlua and cream requires equal amounts of each which would not make very good whipped cream. I backed off a little on the Kahlua and added some gelatin to stabilize the whipped cream. You can cut the whipped cream recipe in half if you want less of it.

Joan was never one to skimp and during the holidays we should all let loose right? I topped my Kahlua and Cream Cheesecake with some Ferrero Rochers.  If you want even more decadence, drizzle chocolate syrup on your Kahlua and Cream Cheesecake or drizzle some on the plate before serving.

Kahlua-and-Cream Cheesecake

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Ingredients

For Crust

• 2¼ cups Brownie Brittle or other chocolate wafer cookie, crushed
• ½ cup melted butter

Cheesecake

• 32 ounces cream cheese
• 2 cups sour cream
• 5 eggs
• ¾ cup Kahlua
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla

Kahlua Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup Kahlua
• 1 packet unflavored gelatin (about 2 teaspoons)
• ¼ cup hot water

Instructions

1. Put Brownie Brittle into a ziplock bag and crush it with a rolling pin (or food process it until it is crumbs). Put in the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan and mix in the melted butter. Press evenly into the bottom of the pan.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream and eggs. Beat until smooth.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour onto prepared crust.
4. Wrap the pan in 2 layers of aluminum foil and set in a baking dish. Pour water into the baking dish until it is half way up the sides of the springform pan.
5. Bake in a 300°F oven for 2 hours. The top should be golden brown.
6. Let cool.

Kahlua Whipped cream

1. Mix gelatin into hot water and set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. It's very important to have a cold mixing bowl and beaters and cold ingredients for this next part. I put my mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about an hour before making whipped cream. I also make sure everything else is well chilled before I start.
3. Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add Kahlua and gelatin and beat until stiff. If it's still too liquidy, refrigerate for an hour to give the gelatin time to work and then beat again).
4. Top cheesecake with Kahlua whipped cream.

Notes

A half batch of the Kahlua Whipped Cream is enough to top the cake. The full batch gives more volume.