Chocolate Stout Cheesecake

Brace yourselves, ladies and gents. Boy, have I got an insane recipe for you today. And I mean “insane” in the best way possible, of course.

This is one of the richest, most decadent recipes I’ve ever shared with you all, let alone to come out of my kitchen in all the years that I have been cooking. This cheesecake means business. It weighs like 10 lbs when all is said and done. It’s pretty legit.

Want a super chocolatey dessert? Check. Want booze with your dessert? Check. Want to taste the most luscious, rich cheesecake filling ever? Triple check. Like I said, this cheesecake means BUSINESS.

Being that St. Patty’s Day is only three days away, now is definitely the time to justify making this sort of thing. I’ve got quite a bit of Irish heritage going on and so does my husband. Which makes Guinness a traditional treat on St. Patty’s, no matter how we get it.

I don’t know about you, but I used to love the concoction where you’d drop a shot glass full of Bailey’s and Irish whiskey into a pint of Guinness and chug away. While I haven’t actually consumed a legit one in oh, say, 6-7 years at least, I can still taste it. I love them. These days, I prefer those flavors without the immediate after effects of A. LOT. OF. ALCOHOL. ALL. AT. ONCE. Know what I mean? If you’re over the age of 25, I’m sure you do.

Enter this cheesecake. All my problems are solved. No, really, I mean it. One bite of this made me feel like the world was just fading away and I was floating up to heaven. It is ridiculous. [Almost as ridiculous as my flair for the dramatic, huh?]

Now, I’ve mentioned this before, but I am not a huge fan of plain cheesecake. It’s just not my thing. Give me a cheesecake studded with fun textures or flavors or topped with something gorgeous and fruity, and I’m in. I can definitely get on board. I had never tried my hand at chocolate cheesecake before, and I knew that if I was going to attempt it, I had to go all in.

This cheesecake is definitely chocolatey. Super-duper, richly chocolatey. Like give-me-a-huge-glass-of-milk chocolatey. So good. But it’s also quite boozy, which sort of cuts the richness in a way?

The stout beer holds up even after the filling is baked, and the boozy sour cream topping kind of well…takes it over the top. If you aren’t a fan of beer, I would skip this one…because it’s definitely present. It is one of the only “Irish carbomb” desserts that actually still tastes like the boozy concoction itself. Between the stout filling and the whiskey and Irish cream that goes into the creamy topping, it’s a doozy. You’ve been warned.

I made this the day of the Oscars. During the awards, Dan and I split a piece of this cheesecake and were freaking out over how good it was and at how much it actually tasted like the shot we used to chug back like it was water years ago (almost as much as I was freaking out over Leo. Say hello to my 13-year-old self). It was the PERFECT accompaniment to the swanky show because it tasted so rich and decadent and yum.

Do yourself a favor and pull out your stretchy pants for this one. If not for St. Patty’s, then when?

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake

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★★★★

4 from 1 review

• Yield: 8-10 servings 1x

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate wafers (or graham crackers)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup chocolate stout beer
• 3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• Pinch of fine salt
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder

For the Topping:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Irish whiskey (I like Jameson)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (I like Bailey’s)
• 4 oz dark chocolate, for grating over top

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Instructions

For the Crust:

1. Arrange your oven racks so that one is in the middle of the oven and one is below that. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan with butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Place the spring form pan on a baking sheet.
2. In a food processor, process the chocolate wafers until fine crumbs form. Add in the sugar and pulse to combine. With the machine running, slowly stream in the butter and process until the mixture resembles wet sand.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared spring form pan and press down evenly to form a compact layer. Set aside.

For the Filling:

1. In a pot over medium high heat, add the chopped chocolate and the beer. Stir until melted and then remove from heat. Allow to cool.
2. Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of stand mixer. Turn on the mixer and blend until the cream cheese is fluffy. With the machine running, crack in the eggs, one at a time, and mix until smooth and incorporated. Beat in the vanilla bean paste/extract. Pour in the cooled chocolate-beer mixture and beat until well combined.
3. Whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, espresso powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Gradually add to the cream cheese mixture, a little at a time, and mix on low speed until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the pan with the prepared crust. Place the baking sheet with the spring form pan into the preheated oven on the middle rack. Place a baking dish on the lower rack of the oven and carefully fill with warm water.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is set. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the Topping:

1. Add the ingredients to a bowl and whisk until well combined. Top the cheesecake with the sour cream topping and return to the oven for 8 minutes. Remove cheesecake from the oven, allow to cool to room temperature, and then transfer the whole pan to the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours (longer is even better!). Before serving, grate the dark chocolate over top and slice.

Adapted from here.