Chocolate Ruined My Cheesecake. Help Please.

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rdcast

Washing Up
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Chocolate Hijacked My Cheesecake. Help Please.

What makes chocolate want to make a cake turn to pudding and what can be done to prevent this ? :dry: Any nice ppl out there want to help lil-O-me ?
 
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ok, it contaned:

7 8oz bars cream cheese
7 whole eggs
7 1oz squares of semi-sweet Baker's chocolate(1/4 cup amoretto added)
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour

It was an exceedingly deep cake. Baking time may not have been enough at 1hr 30min.
first 20mins @ 450 then reduced to 275 for 1hr 10min
 
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Aren't you the cheesecake meister who is supposed to help US with cheese cake problems??:ROFLMAO:

Just kidding, even a maestro get into problems now and then!!

Yes, it looks like quite a large amount but...

I think you went overboard with the chocolate. Cut it down just to give a flavour, and some additional quality cocoa powder (like the one from Lindt) would have improved the situation.
 
Just a tad bit more flour may have helped, but then it has been so long since I made a chocolate cheesecake of these dimensions, too.
 
mudbug said:
Holy cow! what size pan was this in? sounds like at least 3 cheesecakes' worth of stuff.
:LOL: I like tall cakes, the taller the better ! So, I use two spring form pans staked. The first pan is 10 in and the second is just a tad larger and clamps onto the rim of the bottom pan. It works out very well and provides a beautiful mushroom head for the cake.
 
so we're talking 20 inches vertical? sounds to me like the innnards didn't cook too well, given all that height - long way to the center and all. But apparently you've done this before so that may not be the problem.

I agree with urmaniac in that I don't think you needed that much chocolate. An egg or two less probably would have helped too.

edited to add: just realized you were probably talking about 10 inches across (duh). still, that's a pretty tall cake.
 
urmaniac13 said:
I think you went overboard with the chocolate. Cut it down just to give a flavour, and some additional quality cocoa powder (like the one from Lindt) would have improved the situation.
That's what I'm thinking too. It's funny, but we have a Lindt store across the way.
What can I say? Jen says I'm trying to reinvent the wheel(evil that gurl). I just need to understand the process that people had to go through to arrive at their findings so I might understand better how to take the next step.
 
You have a Lindt store near by your house!!?
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Holy cow, lucky you... well maybe it was a good thing there is none around our house... the consequence may not be pretty:LOL:

Then do try their product on your cakes... it does make a big difference in flavour, compared to some generic chocolate or cocoa powder.
 
LOL MudBug, I can't imagine any oven that could handle a 20 inch tall pan. It blows mah mind to think. The cake ended up between 7 and 8 inches tall.
Shunka is also of mah mind in that flour is important to achieve the quality of texture I strive for.
 
Don't tell Jen, but I did do somethin a lil strange. Before adding the chocolate, I separated out 3 cups of the batter, added lemon juice and 1 tsp of baking soda. I added this as a thin top layer to make a perfect, un-cracked top.
 
I make a cheesecake that uses 6 eight-ounce packages of cream cheese, along with eggs, sour cream, etc. It takes a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes to cook it all the way through in a ten-inch springform pan. I have to cool the final cooking temp to 180 to prevent scorching the graham cracker crust. Your cheesecake is larger than is mine. Yes, I believe the amount of chocolate is excessive, but only from a taste standpoint. It would mask the cheesecake flavor too much for me. But it is my humble opinion that a greater cooking time is required, and at no more than 180 degrees.

And I would think that a more dense cheesecake would be desired, so I would decrease the eggs by two and add 3 tbs. cornstarch. This will make the filling more dense, and remove some of the custard texture, allowing the end result to be more firm and able to hold the garganutan top layer.

These are just suggestions. You are going to have to experiment a bit to get the end result just right.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
I think jen might be onto something...
Do reinvent just yet, Go with TNT recipies, that will give you a basic understanding of the components and outcome, then double the recipie if you want the towering cake of goodness. Once you feel comfortable, then experiment.
 
TATTRAT said:
I think jen might be onto something...
Do reinvent just yet, Go with TNT recipies, that will give you a basic understanding of the components and outcome, then double the recipie if you want the towering cake of goodness. Once you feel comfortable, then experiment.

Also your first tries might look a little ugly if you are poking the middle to test doneness. Just cover it with some fresh fruit or a glaze. Does anyone know where to find 8" toothpicks?:LOL:
 
Thanx Goodweed(is that pot?) I believe you're right about too much chocolate and reminding me that cornstarch makes it more dense is something I must dwell on. Chocolate is proving to be a noble challenge.

I made some adjustments and these are the results:

INGREDIENTS
7, 8oz cream cheese bars(same)
4, 1oz semisweet Bakers chocolate squares(3 less than first)
3/4cup, flour + 1/4cup cornstarch(1/4cup more flour and the first had no cornstarch)
3, eggs + 3 additional yolks(the first had 7 eggs un-separated)
2cups, sugar(same)
vanilla, splash
(Water pan on bottom of oven)
(Baked 30min @ 350 1hr 15min @ 275)

RESULTS
Growth, raised slightly during first 30mins, fell a little more than usual during cooling outside of the oven.
Cracks, severe, only on left half, right half was perfect
Center of cake, not as bready and light as I like, firm but creamy

Otherwise, not a disaster. Chocolate is so brutal.
 

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