Marble Mascarpone Cheesecake (cookie base, baked)

Marble Mascarpone Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:

120 gr -130gr digestive biscuits (crushed, or I just use a coarse blender to smash it to pulp)
30 gr sugar
65 gr butter (melted)



Cheesecake batter: 

70g bittersweet chocolate chopped     } To be melted
5 Tbsp water                                      }  and mixed together
1 pack (250 gr) Mascaporne cheese
1 pack (200gr) Philadelphia Cream cheese
170 gr sugar
50 ml of heavy cream + 1 Tbsp of cornflour (optional)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract or 2 tsp of vanilla sugar


Method:

• Prepare a 24 cm springform pan with baking sheet and butter well.
• Melt butter in microwave at low heat. Crush the digestive cookies and add sugar. Mix well with melted butter and press evenly into a prepared pan.
• Bake in the oven at 160°C-165°C for about 10 mins. Once ready remove from oven and fill the deep baking tray with hot water about 2 cm high.
• Prepare a bain marie for the chocolate and water (or just boil some water and place a smaller pot over to melt the chocolate with the water. YES melt them together!) Set the mixture aside to cool.
• Now prepare the cheesecake filling by using a mixer.
• Beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla until smooth. Then add the mascarpone and beat until smooth. If using cream beat in the cream and sieve in the cornflour and continue beating until smooth.
• Add eggs one at a time beating into the batter until even and smooth ;) (yes...smoooooth ;))
• Ladle about 1/10 of the batter into the chocolate mix and fold until ...yes you guessed it...smooth!

• Now pour the vanilla batter on to the cookie base. Then pour the chocolate batter over the vanilla base. Use a fork to create swirls or marbley effect.
• Cover the bottom (halfway up is enough) of the springform pan with aluminium foil to prevent water from getting into the cookie batter. Place the pan on top of the water (this baking is called the warm bath method) and bake at 150°C for about 1 hour (if you're using fan assisted check sooner so that the cheesecake doesn't brown...like mine :( )

Notes: 22nd January 2011: A friend suggested to use round cylindrical rod like the handle of a wooden spoon to give better swirl patterns. As I didn't have anything cylindrical available I used a fork. I'd take his advice!