Espresso Cheesecake

1. Bring your sour cream, cream cheese and eggs to room temperature. This is crucial to the success of the cheesecake. It will take at least an hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the sides of a 9 or 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.

Crust:
3. Finely crush the wafer cookies until they are crumbs. I pulse them in the food processor. Combine them with the 3 Tablespoons of sugar, 6 Tablespoons of melted butter, a pinch of sea salt and 1 teaspoon of espresso powder. Mix until combined.
4. Press the cookie crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared springform pan.
5. Sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar over the cookie crust. Now use a measuring cup to level the crust and pack it into the pan. Press the crust slightly up the sides of the pan until even all around.
6. Put on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely.

Cheesecake:
7. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the cream cheese until very fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
8. Whisk together the flour, sugar and sea salt. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the cream cheese. Mix until smooth.
9. Add sour cream, vanilla and coffee extract and mix until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl.
10. Add eggs one at time. Add the next egg as soon as the first yolk breaks. Scrape down the mixer for a final time.
11. Wrap springform pan in two sheets of heavy duty tin foil. Have a large roasting pan ready.
12. Pour the cheesecake filling into the crust until it’s 4-5 inches high. DO NOT SCRAPE THE BATTER OUT OF THE BOWL OR YOU WILL HAVE A LUMPY CHEESECAKE. Sorry, didn’t mean to yell, it’s just important. No scraping of the spatula, mixer beaters or bowl. Don’t worry – that just means more leftover batter for you!
13. Transfer cheesecake into the roasting pan and into the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches about halfway up your springform pan.
14. Bake for 45 minutes. At the 45 minute point, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue to bake another 30 minutes or until cake is set but still slightly wobbly in the center.
15. Turn oven off but leave door propped open with a wooden spoon. Leave the cheesecake in there for an hour. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Topping:
1. Melt chocolate for topping by microwaving chopped chocolate at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time. Stir until melted and combine with espresso powder. Pour melted chocolate into a ziploc bag and seal. Cut a small hole in one corner of the bag.
2. Squeezing the bag, pipe straight lines across the top of the cheesecake.
3. Perpendicularly drag a skewer or toothpick through the lines of chocolate and batter. Alternate directions each time (to create a marbled effect).
4. Refrigerate overnight but don’t cover it with plastic wrap or foil. That will cause condensation and ruin all your hard work.