Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

I made this for the first time last night at book club. Several people asked for the recipe. Surprisingly easy for such a yummy cheesecake.

The recipe is Anthony Romano's. He is the executive chef at Players on Madison in Lakewood Ohio.


Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used two packages of crackers ground up in the cuisinart)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, melted

I just put all of the dry ingredients in my cuisinart, mixed them up and then added the butter. Press the mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan.

Chocolate Filling
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
16 ounces Mascarpone cheese (it came in a 17.5 ounce container, I used it all)
6 eggs
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add mascarpone cheese and combine well, scraping sides of bowl. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Put chocolate in a large glass bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Add half of the cream cheese mixture to the chocolate and combine well. Pour the chocolate mixture onto the crust. Pour the remaining plain cream cheese mixture on top and use a spoon to "marble" the filling.

Place spring form pan in the oven on top of a roasting pan (or any pan with a lip). Pour hot water into the roasting pan so that the spring form pan is surrounded by water. Bake 1 3/4 hours. Remove and cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Remove sides of spring form pan and refrigerate cake for 8-10 hours before serving.