You'll thank me for this later....

Pin It My beautiful and talented friend Diane, she of the Fabulous Friday Friends, is full of love, the gift of hospitality, and brilliant ideas. One of her latest ideas was to host a chick flick party, at which she would show the movie Chocolat, and to which we could bring any yummy snacks we might enjoy. Diane told us she was planning to make us homemade truffles. They were spectacular!!! Several others of us decided to do a small variation on the chocolate theme, and bring chocolate treasures of our own.

I promised the girls that I would post my recipe on my blog. I wish I could tell you that it is my own recipe, but actually, it is not. It came from Southern Living. I have been making it for years, though, because it seems to have the effect of causing people to swoon, cheesecake and chocolate lovers alike. I wish you could have been at our little party, so that you could have heard the little moans of pleasure going up as we sampled one delectable chocolate dainty after another. If you weren't wiping saliva away from the corners of your own mouth with your sleeve, then you certainly would have been getting a good laugh out of listening to us THOROUGHLY ENJOY our chocolate!!!

My hope, is that instead of you feeling sorry for yourself because you weren't there at our WONDERFUL chocolate party, that you will purpose in your heart to have a little party and a lot of fun of your own. That you will invite some friends (or even better, some POTENTIAL friends) over, and have the time of your life, while you enjoy good food and good company. It is such a great thing to spread the love around! As the old song that I learned as a girl goes, "Love is something if you give it away, you end up having more".

So here, without further ado, and just in time for the holidays and all your holiday entertaining, is my recipe for

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED TRIPLE-LAYER CHEESECAKE

Here's all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe:



1 (8 1/2 oz.) package chocolate wafer cookies, crushed (about 2 c.) (I think the ones I use are called Nabisco's Famous Chocolate wafers)
3/4 c. sugar, divided
1/4 c. plus 1 T. butter, melted
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened and divided
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract, divided
2 (1 oz.) squares semisweet chocolate, melted
1 1/3 c. sour cream, divided
1/3 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 T. flour
1/4 c. chopped pecans
5 oz. cream cheese softened
1/4 t. almond extract

Chocolate Glaze (recipe follows)


Combine cookie crumbs, 1/4 c. sugar, and butter in a bowl; blend well. Press on bottom and 2" up sides of a 9'" springform pan. Set aside. (I use a little flat bottomed dish I have to help me press down the crumbs evenly.)



Combine 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese and 1/4 c. sugar; beat until fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1/4 t. vanilla; blend well. Stir in melted chocolate and 1/3 c. sour cream.



Spoon over chocolate crust.

Combine remaining (8 oz.) package cream cheese, brown sugar, and flour; beat until fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1/2 t. vanilla; blend well. Stir in pecans. Spoon gently over chocolate layer.



Combine 5 oz. cream cheese and remaining 1/4 c. sugar; beat until fluffy. Add remaining egg, and blend well. Stir in remaining 1 c. sour cream, 1/4 t. vanilla , and almond extract. Spoon gently over pecan layer.




Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hr.; turn off oven, and leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes, partially open door of oven and leave cheesecake in oven an additional 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperatrure on a wire rack. Chill at least 8 hours. Remove from pan. Spread warm chocolate glaze over cheesecake.


CHOCOLATE GLAZE

6 (1 oz.) squares semisweet chocolate
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sifted powdered sugar
2 T. water
1 t. vanilla extract

Combine chocolate and butter in top of a double boiler; bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; add remaining ingredients, stirring until smooth.





Spread over cheesecake while glaze is warm.



And, enjoy!!!