At Whole Latte Love we carry several varieties of fair trade organic coffee including though certainly not limited to the Johnson Brothers Fair Trade Global Lift, Cafe La Semeuse Soleil Levant, Paradise Coffee Roasters Fair-Trade Organic Mexico Chiapas coffees. One more thing, our “Brew-Tiful Creations Photo Contest” will be ongoing until Wednesday October 3rd. Enter a picture of one of your coffee creations for a chance to win a prize pack including a Gaggia Espresso Color and more.

But, without further ado let’s move on to our recipe shall we? This time I really pulled all the stops to find something really special for you to try this weekend. The result? A twist on my grandma’s classic cheesecake recipe working coffee into both the filling and the crust. Crazy right? Well, in any case, here’s what you’ll need to make your own Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake.

Crust:

• 1 and 1/2 cups of finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies
• 1/2 of a cup of confectioners sugar
• 6 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of finely ground coffee (Turkish blend)

Filling:

• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup of granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 cups of sour cream (allow it to soften before using)
• 2 -8 ounce packages of cream cheese (allow it to soften before using)
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 shot of espresso

Baking instructions:

Crust: After finely crushing your wafer cookies, combine them with the confectioners sugar, ground coffee, and melted butter in a large bowl and mix thoroughly until the confectioners sugar is no longer visible and all of the wafer cookies have absorbed the butter (if they are still dry the crust will not hold together). Place the crust mixture into a pie pan and flatten it out until the entire surface of the pan is covered (I recommend using a drinking glass to flatten it out, although you can use your hands, or another pie pan of the same size). After flattening out your crust, bake it in the oven for five minutes at 325 degrees. After five minutes, remove the crust and allow it to cool.

Filling: In your blender, combine the two eggs, 1/2 cup of sugar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 & 1/2 cups of sour cream and blend them together at high speed for 15 seconds. If the ingredients have not fully blended continue to blend until the mixture is homogenous. Next, gradually add the 16 ounces of cream cheese and two tablespoons of melted butter and your shot of espresso, continuing to blend on high (if any of the ingredients get stuck on the side of the blender, use a spoon, or rubber scraper to push them back down into the mixture). Continue blending until the mixture becomes smooth and free of lumps, do not over blend however as this creates a large number of bubbles.

After you finish blending, pour your filling into your pan of crust (you can use a spoon or rubber scraper to smooth out the top of your cheesecake) After pouring in your filling, bake your cheesecake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes at 325 degrees (a good way of knowing if you're leaving it in for too long is if the filling begins to crack on top, this doesn't affect the flavor of the cheesecake or the texture, but if you see it cracking be sure to take it out right away). After 30 to 40 minutes, remove your cheesecake and allow it to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Refrigerate until chilled. Drizzle with your favorite chocolate sauce before serving.