BLUE CHEESE CHEESECAKE WITH CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUST: MOLDY CHEESE DAY!

Today is Moldy Cheese Day! Blue Cheese is about as moldy as I care to get, so to celebrate today's food holiday and fit it into the "Chocolate" theme of this blog, here's a recipe for Blue Cheese Cheesecake with a Chocolate Cookie Crust.  

Chocolate and Blue Cheese go well together. I've made Blue Cheese Truffles on numerous occasions, and I love them. If this is your first foray into the combination, choose a mild creamy blue cheese. If you're not sure, ask your cheese specialist.

BLUE CHEESE CHEESECAKE WITH CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUST

Chocolate Cookie Crust

Ingredients
30 chocolate wafers (Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers-1-1/2 cups crumbs)
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions
Process cookies in food processor until finely ground.
Transfer crumbs to mixing bowl & combine crumbs, butter, salt, and vanilla. Stir until crumbs are moistened.
Press mixture evenly across bottom of 9-inch springform pan and up sides of pan. Pack tightly so crust is even.
Bake in 350° oven for 6-8 minutes or until crisp.
Let cool completely before filling. You can put it in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

For the Cheesecake

Ingredients
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
10 ounces Blue Cheese, room temperature (I've used Humboldt Fog)
3 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp honey
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch cracked black pepper

Directions
In large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add blue cheese; beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape bowl. Add sour cream, honey, salt, and pepper. Beat until combined.
Pour into cooled prepared Chocolate Cookie Crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes in a 325° oven or until set and knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature in pan.

CHEVRE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES: National Goat Cheese Day

Toady is National Goat Cheese Day. Goat Cheese has been produced for over 4000 years. It's such a wonderful cheese, and it goes well with chocolate, too. 

I'm a huge fan of Cypress Grove Chevre. They have a great variety of goat cheeses from Humboldt Fog to Bermuda Triangle to Sgt. Pepper to Purple Haze, and everything in between. If you're a big goat cheese fan, you might want to consider a cake made of wheels of their cheese! Who wouldn't want a beautiful cake made of cheese wheels like the one on the right?

The following recipe for Goat Cheese Chocolate Truffles works well with any Chevre, so you can use whatever is available to you. Make sure it's fresh. This specific goat cheese truffle recipe really highlights the chevre, so mix is up and try other goat cheeses to see what you like best. I use Humboldt Fog which has a very distinct taste, but you might want to make your first batch with a more mild chevre. Humboldt Fog has a subtle, tangy flavor and distinctive layer of edible vegetable ash. Of course, different chocolate will also make a difference in flavor. Enjoy!

Chevre Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients
6 1/2 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
7 ounces fresh Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog chevre, room temperature  (or a Chevre of your choosing)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder, for rolling

Directions
Melt chocolate in top of double boiler or metal pot over another pot over simmering water. Mix chevre and sugar in medium-size bowl. Stir in melted chocolate and mix until smooth.
Refrigerate an hour to overnight.
When ready to make truffles, roll heaping teaspoons of refrigerated mixture into small balls, then roll balls in cocoa powder.
Chill on sheet pan until ready to serve or keep 3 to 4 days in refrigerator.

Goats by the side of my house