Chubby Hubby Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake (based on the Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor) for my family's Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a huge hit! There were a couple of slices left at the end of the dinner, so we ate it for breakfast the next morning and it was just as good!

Chubby Hubby Cheesecake
Source: Quirky Cupcake

Crust:
2 cups finely crushed pretzel sticks
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Stir together all ingredients; firmly press crumb mixture on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pieplate. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack, and cool crust 1 hour or until completely cool before filling.

Peanut butter layer:
Blend 1/3 cup peanut butter, 2 TB cream cheese, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar until smooth.
You might want to double this; I ended up doubling this layer because a single recipe wasn't enough to cover the entire crust.

Chocolate ganache layer:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 TB heavy cream

Heat the chips in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds. Heat the cream, and stir into melted chips until smooth.

Cheesecake:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces (1 cup) cottage cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the cream cheese and cottage cheese into the food processor and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times, for 2 minutes, until you’ve got a smooth, satiny mix. Add the sugar, salt and spices and process for another 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the eggs and process, scraping the bowl as needed, for a final minute.

Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the filling is uniformly puffed and no longer jiggly. Gently transfer the springform pan to a cooling rack and allow the torte to cool to room temperature, during which time the filling will collapse into a thin, elegant layer.

Run a blunt knife between the crust and the sides of the pan, then open and remove the sides of the springform. If the sides of the crust extend above the filling and you don’t like this look, very gently saw off the excess crust using a serrated knife. Chill the torte slightly or thoroughly before serving and if you’d like, dust the top with confectioner’s sugar.

Assembly:
After the crust has cooled, spread the peanut butter layer on first, then pour the chocolate ganache on top of that. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the chocolate layer, then bake as directed.

Like I said, this was a hit! It was also my first attempt at making a cheesecake, so I was happy that it was so successful. I will definitely be keeping this recipe around. It is also great because it is a good base recipe that can be played with, adding different things to it to create different flavors.