July 21, 2014

Smores Cheesecake

posted by Lindsay
94 Comments

Trust me when I tell you that you want to make this Smores Cheesecake. The combination of thick and creamy chocolate cheesecake, melty toasted marshmallows and graham cracker crust is totally to die for and the perfect summer dessert!

Plus, get pumped because this week is S’mores Week!! A bunch of wonderful bloggers will be bringing you s’mores inspired desserts all week long!

S'mores Cheesecake
S'mores Cheesecake

So it rained here a good bit of the weekend. It finally stopped Sunday, but it stayed wet and dark and cloudy even when the rain stopped. Fortunately it wasn’t also cold.

But all that rain meant indoor activities which meant a lot of chillaxin’ on the couch and checking out stuff on Netflix.

S'mores Cheesecake

Saturday morning, the hubs slept in. I didn’t. I don’t seem to be able to do that anymore and it makes me sad. Between my inability to be able to sleep late and my back still bothering me, I was up early.

So I baked and watched Dirty Dancing. 🙂 A serious classic. I’ve been watching it since I can’t even remember when. I was 3 when it came out and I may have been watching it since then.

Since I was so young when I started watching it, I had no idea of all the stuff that was going on. I just loved the dancing. But it still amazes me that I feel like very time I watch it, I realize another little thing that happened that I didn’t pick up on before. It just makes me love the movie more and more.

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all week too. I go through phases with this stuff. 🙂

S'mores Cheesecake
S'mores Cheesecake

Another phase I’m going through? S’mores. My kitchen has been full of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers galore! This cheesecake was first up!

I put marshmallows and chocolate sauce in the bottom of the cheesecake to give it extra gooey and melty-ness. It’s hard to tell because they kind of blend into the cheesecake, but if you look at the bottom, you can see how extra awesome it looks.

Because of the marshmallows baking into the cheesecake, they bubble up a little while it bakes which will leave small cracks on the top of the finished cheesecake, but those get covered up with melted marshmallows, so it’s all good. You could leave them out if you want (if won’t change the cooking time), but I do recommend you keep them. Serious yum.

S'mores Cheesecake
S'mores Cheesecake

Once the cheesecake has cooled, the marshmallows get melted in the oven on convection bake. The cheesecake will warm up a bit, but honestly that’s one of the things I love about this cheesecake. It warms up just enough to be s’mores-like, but still has a little chill in the center. Perfection.

Even after I chilled it again and the marshmallows got cold, I’d microwave my pieces for about 10-15 seconds. Can’t beat melty marshmallows. You just can’t.

A bite of this cheesecake is just heavenly. The chocolate cheesecake is rich, super chocolatey, smooth and creamy. And when paired with melty marshmallows and a sweet graham cracker crust, it’s completely irresistible.

S'mores Cheesecake
S'mores Cheesecake

Smores Cheesecake

Print
  • Yield: 12-14 Slices 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 5 tbsp sugar
  • 5 tbsp butter, melted

CHEESECAKE FILLING AND TOPPING

  • 24 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
  • 1/2 cup hot fudge topping, warm, plus more for topping (I used this topping)
  • 45–50 large marshmallows, for topping

Instructions

CRUST

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine crust ingredients and mix well.
3. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper in the bottom.
4. Bake crust for 10 minutes then remove.
5. Cover the outsides of the pan with aluminum foil so that water from the water bath cannot get in, and set aside.

CHEESECAKE FILLING

1. Reduce oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, blend the cream cheese, sugar, flour and cocoa with an electric mixer until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
4. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until well combined.
5. Add the mini marshmallows in an even layer in the bottom of the pan, on top of the crust.
6. Pour the hot fudge topping over marshmallows, then pour the cheesecake filling into the pan.
7. Place springform pan inside another pan. Fill outside pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan.
8. Bake for 1 hour and 35 minutes. Marshmallows may boil up through the top.
9. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 20 minutes.
10. Crack oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 20 minutes or until set.
11. Remove from oven and refrigerate until firm, 4-5 hours.
12. Once the cheesecake is completely chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees on convection bake.
13. Remove the springform pan sides from cheesecake and place the cheesecake on a cookie sheet.
14. Top the cheesecake with a layer of large marshmallows.
15. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to brown.
16. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and drizzle with more hot fudge and sprinkle on some graham cracker crumbs.
17. Cheesecake can be served warm out of the oven (which I recommend), or refrigerated and served cold.

Enjoy!

signature
Smores Cheesecake! Full of melty marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers!

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