triple chocolate cheesecake
rich chocolate cheesecake with an oreo crust, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate whipped cream
baked in February 2026
yield: 10 servings
prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
difficulty level: hard
Ingredients
Crust
- 35 whole oreos
- 1/4 cup salted butter, melted, (56 grams)
Cheesecake
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (113 grams)
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped (113 grams)
- 32 ounces full fat cream cheese, at room temperature , use the block style (904 grams)
- 1 cup cocoa powder (100 grams)
- 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar (308 grams)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature (180 grams)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Ganache
- 5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (141 grams) – can use part semi-sweet and part milk chocolate if desired
- 5 ounces heavy cream (150 grams)
Whipped Cream
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (29 grams)
- 1 and 1/4 cups cold heavy cream (300 grams)
- 3/4 teaspoon plain gelatin
- 3 teaspoons water (15 grams)
Directions
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and make sure the bottom is securely fastened.
- Pulse the oreos in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
- Stir together oreo crumbs and butter, and press into prepared pan and up the sides a bit.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Keep the oven on at 350. Fill a large pot with water and set it on your stove, and get out a large roasting pan – you'll need this for your water bath later.
For the cheesecake:
- Melt the chocolate in a small bowl, in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until completely smooth. Set aside to cool a bit.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with electric mixer until creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder.
- Then, mix this into the cream cheese until well combined and smooth, beating well and scraping the sides & bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed after each until just incorporated – if you over-mix, the cheesecake can inflate and overflow in the oven. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl between each egg addition, as little lumps of cream cheese will hide down there.
- Check that the chocolate is still melty and add it to the batter with the vanilla, sour cream, corn starch, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Bring the large pot of water to a boil. Set your springform pan on a rack positioned in the center of the oven, and place the roasting pan on the rack below, or wrap the base of the cheesecake pan in foil and place it inside a 10-inch cake pan inside the roasting dish. Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan. Both of these methods ensure no leaks.
- Pour the batter over your prepared curst.
- Bake the cheesecake for 80 to 88 minutes. When done, the cheesecake will have only a slight wobble in the center, and a knife inserted into the center will have just a small bit of thick batter. An instant read thermometer inserted into the center should read about 155°F to 160°F (avoid poking the bottom of the pan as this will give you a false reading).
- Turn off the oven and crack the oven door open. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 1 hour before removing it.
- Once the hour is up, remove the pan from the oven. It should be cool enough to handle. Remove the foil and set the springform pan on a wire rack. Let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour more, then cover with foil and refrigerate at least 6 hours or up to 1 day before removing from the pan and serving.
For the ganache:
- Add chocolate to a small bowl.
- Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium high heat until simmering.
- Pour over the chocolate, let sit for 4 minutes, then stir until completely smooth.
- Pour over the center of the cheesecake, spreading it to and over the edges with an offset spatula.
- Pop in the fridge for a few minutes to let the ganache set before adding whipped cream.
For the whipped cream:
- Add the water to a small bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin on top, swirling a little as needed so the water covers the gelatin. Let sit for 5 minutes. It will be a very thick gelatinous mixture. Then, microwave for 3-5 seconds, or just until it liquifies. Set aside.
- Start making your whipped cream. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer.
- Once the cream just starts to thicken, slowly stream in the liquid gelatin mixture on low speed.
- Then, keep beating the cream on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Now it's stable enough to be piped!
- Pipe the whipped cream with a Wilton 4B tip.
