When Marie brought over the corned beef, she evidently said she would bring dessert. Victor heard it but I missed that part. And ya can’t have people over for dinner without having dessert, so I decided a cheesecake was in order. But since cheesecake is about as Irish as corned beef and cabbage (really – it’s an American invention – they don’t eat it in Ireland) I thought I would at least give it an Irish twist. Bailey’s Irish Cream.
Cheesecake is one of my most favorite desserts – real cheesecake, that is. There should only be a few ingredients.
Bailey’s Cheesecake
The Crust:
- 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely ground
- 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
The Filling:
- 4 pkgs cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 oz melted good quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona)
- 1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
Ganache:
- 4 oz melted good quality dark chocolate
- 4 oz Bailey’s Irish ream
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix crust ingredients and press evenly into bottom of 10″ springform pan. Set aside.
Cream the cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugar and then the melted chocolate. Add the Bailey’s, mixing until smooth and light.
Pour into pan and bake 60 – 70 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
Mix Bailey’s with melted chocolate. Spread ganache on top and refrigerate.
As if this wasn’t enough, Marie brought over outrageously-good white cupcakes with coconut icing.
I had both.