The best recipes make the rounds of friends and neighbors…and this one came to my sister Suri from her great friend Etty J. Etty says that she begins the Pesach baking process by preparing a few batches of chocolate fudge, one of which becomes the base for her cheesecake. Throughout Yom Tov, she uses the fudge in different cakes and desserts. When served warm, the fudge can take the place of a hot chocolate soufflé or serve as the base of any creative dessert.
Chocolate Fudge Base
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
¾ cup oil
¼ cup cocoa
¾ cup potato starch
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch chocolate liquor
Cheesecake
3 (8-ounce) containers whipped
cream cheese, at room temperature
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 scoops vanilla sugar
pinch cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or a 9-inch round cheesecake pan. In a bowl, combine all fudge ingredients (you can also do this directly in the baking pan), pour into pan, and bake for 45 minutes.
- Prepare the cheescake batter. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, eggs, sugars, and cinnamon. Pour over cooled fudge base. Bake in a water bath for 1 hour.
Yield: 1 cake
When using the fudge base, it’s important to bake the cake in a water bath so that the fudge does not dry out during baking. The fudge base in this cheesecake is the same one that’s used in the ice cream and crumble dessert, so double the recipe and you will have a component for two desserts.
