Cappuccino Cheesecake

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• CRUST
• 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• FILLING
• 3 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese*
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, divided
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling over top

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Wrap bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan with wide heavy-duty foil. In medium bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press evenly into bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake 8 minutes or until set; cool on wire rack.

2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, mascarpone cheese and sugar at low speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Beat in flour. Beat in 2 of the eggs just until combined; repeat with remaining 2 eggs. Scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla just until blended.

3. Reserve 2 cups batter in another medium bowl. In small bowl, dissolve coffee in 2 tablespoons of the cream; stir into reserved batter.

4. Stir remaining 1 tablespoon cream and 2 teaspoons cinnamon into batter in large bowl until completely blended; pour into crust. Place pan in large shallow roasting or broiler pan. Fill with enough hot tap water to come halfway up sides of springform pan.

5. Bake 40 minutes. Carefully slide out oven rack several inches. Pour reserved coffee batter evenly over cheesecake. Bake 20 minutes or until edges are slightly puffed and top is dry to the touch. Center should move slightly when pan is tapped but should not ripple as if liquid. Remove cake from water bath; remove foil. Place on wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon. Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving. (Cheesecake can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Store in refrigerator.

TIP *Mascarpone cheese is a double- or triple-cream cheese from Italy. Look for it in the dairy section of the supermarket or in Italian markets. If unavailable, substitute 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese.

12 servings

PER SERVING: 535 calories, 38.5 g total fat (22.5 g saturated fat), 9.5 g protein, 40g carbohydrate, 175 mg cholesterol, 370 mg sodium, 1 g fiber