Espresso Chocolate Cheesecake, Revisited

So a while back I did a post about this Espresso Chocolate Cheesecake. At that particular time, I wasn’t baking it for any particular reason other than to fatten up friends and coworkers. I whipped the recipe out again this time for a special occasion though. It was LC’s birthday this weekend, and I was out of ideas for what kind of cake to make her. Luckily KC gave me an easy way out: cheesecake.

Now can I just start by saying that my cheesecakes never come out pretty? They always taste great, but they never resemble anything close to what you find in a restaurant or store. Go figure. I’ll have to work on it. But hey, the awesomet hing about a cheesecake is that even if it’s ugly, you can mask it with a nice coating of chocolate.

This is a really rich cheesecake, and with the addition of the extra layer of chocolate ganache covering it, I felt like I needed some fruit to offset the chocolately-ness. It worked out really well actually, except the strawberries threatened to slide off the cake. Note: Let the ganache set a little while before trying to lay down the fruit.

You can find the recipe for the cheesecake in my previous post. Chocolate ganache is disgustingly easy to make, and here’s that recipe:

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbl butter
• 6 oz of semisweet chocolate

Combine cream and butter over low heat on the stove until it barely simmers. Add the chocolate, let it sit for a minute or two, and stir until all chunks are gone. Pour over cake, or allow it to cool to a spreading consistency if you want to use it as a frosting.