Chocolate Layer Cheesecake

This is one of my favorite desserts for gatherings. It is a combination of three different recipes that I combined into a wonderfully rich dessert.

Chocolate Layer Cheesecake

1-1/2 cups crushed chocolate gram crackers

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

3 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup Sour Cream

3 eggs

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350°F if using a 9-in. silver springform pan (or to 325°F if using a 9-in. dark nonstick springform pan.) Combine crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of pan.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended.

Remove 1 cup of the batter to small bowl; stir in cocoa. Pour into crust; top with remaining plain batter.

Bake 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around side of pan to loosen cake. Cool completely.

Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan on low heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until completely melted. Cool slightly. Pour over cheesecake. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight. Remove side of pan before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

For the leaves I melted white chocolate and colored it with food coloring. Then I poured it on to wax paper when it had cooled a little I used a knife to cut out leaf shapes a small cookie cutter would also work. I then let the chocolate cool completely before putting them on the cake.