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Bloody Good Cheesecake

AmericanDessertMedium
Prep
255 min
Cook
60 min
Total
315 min
Serves
16
✦

Ingredients

crust

  • 8whole chocolate graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs
  • 5 tbspmelted butter

cake

  • 3 package(8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 0.75 cupgranulated sugar
  • 0.25 cupdark unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tspvanilla
  • 0.25 tspsalt
  • 0.3333333333333333 cupheavy cream
  • red icing color (author uses Wilton)

gel frosting

  • 0.25 cupCOLD water
  • 3 tspcornstarch (see note)
  • 0.25 cuplight corn syrup
  • 1 tspvanilla
  • red icing color

Method

  1. 1Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper or foil, letting the paper cover the edges of the bottom of the pan and closing the springform edge around it (this makes for easy removal later on).
  2. 2Combine the crushed chocolate grahams and melted butter until the crumbs are evenly coated. Press into the prepared pan.
  3. 3Beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add the unsweetened cocoa and mix until combined, making sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom at least once.
  4. 4Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. The mix in the vanilla, salt and heavy cream.
  5. 5Add the red icing color until the batter is a deep red color. I started with 1/4 teaspoon and ended up using maybe 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon total.
  6. 6Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it over the crust.
  7. 7Bake for 20 minutes at 325F. Then reduce the oven temperature to 225F and bake for 30 more minutes. Turn the oven off and DO NOT open the oven door. Just let the cheesecake stay in there until the oven cools to room temperature. This prevents cracking.
  8. 8Use a knife to gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan before popping the springform sides open.
  9. 9To make the gel frosting, stir together the cold water and cornstarch until smooth. Pour it into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the corn syrup and stir until the mixture is heated through and smooth. You will need to stir frequently; you can watch it thicken as it cooks.
  10. 10Remove the mixture from the burner after 1-2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and red icing color. I used about 1/2 teaspoon of color to achieve the look here. Let the gel cool before spooning it over the cake.
  11. 11Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Notes

Be sure to make this cake a day ahead so it has the proper time to cool in the oven and then chill in the fridge before serving. Prep time listed includes chilling. NOTES ON GEL FROSTING: For the cake pictured, author actually made 2 batches of the gel frosting. For the first batch, used 4 teaspoons of cornstarch for a thicker gel; spread it over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Refrigerated the cake to keep the drips in place. The second batch was made with 3 teaspoons of cornstarch and spooned over the cake when serving. Looks like fake blood and is pretty great.