Chocolate Cheesecake Decadence

I like the occasional cheat.  I especially like a cheat with real flavor, and no funny aftertastes.  So, when I'm not up for digging out Mom's odd little scraps of paper for the Zingermann's (excessively, dangerously rich and tasty) brownie recipe, I'm inclined to reach for a box of Ghirardelli's brownie mix.  They use top-notch ingredients, and the flavor is good enough to pass off as homemade, in a pinch.  

But, in my world, we're not allowed to use paint straight from the tube, let alone use a mix straight from the box.  If the mix is good, we throw stuff into it, and if the mix is great, we pile stuff on top of it.  Ghirardelli's usually gets toppings, like this one, which, if you like snitching chocolate cookie dough, resembles a safe version of that...  it's gooey and fudgy and rich as the dickens.

Chocolate Cheesecake Decadence

Ingredients:

7 ounces good dark chocolate (at least 65% cocoa)

3 8-ounce blocks of cream cheese (not light or fat-free) warmed to room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs 

1 Ghirardelli's Chocolate Supreme Brownie mix, prepared according to box instructions.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300º.  

Prepare Ghirardelli's  brownie mix following instructions on box.  Pour into 12-inch spingform pan, pulling some batter up the sides of the pan. 

In a small bowl for microwave oven or in double-boiler, melt chocolate.  Beat in cream cheese until thoroughly mixed.  Mix in sugar until evenly distributed, then add eggs, whip until fluffy.  Pour onto the top of the brownie batter in the springform pan.

Place in middle of oven, bake for at least 90 minutes, until the cheesecake begins to firm up around the edges and is still slightly jiggly in the middle.     Turn off heat, allow cheesecake to cool inside the oven.

*This recipe leaves a slightly crispy, crackly crust on the top of the cheesecake, not unlike a standard brownie finish.  If you prefer a soft, traditional cheesecake finish, you will want to put a couple of pans of water in the oven, before you put the batter in to bake.