Happy Holidays! I hope you are enjoying time with friends and maybe having some fun in the kitchen as well. I’ve been a little apprehensive toward holiday meals, but not about dessert thanks to this tried and true cheesecake recipe which can be made ahead and frozen. “Chocolate Glazed Triple Layer Cheesecake is an old standby, and I’ve already trotted it out for multiple events this year. It hasn’t let me down.
Plus reviving it opened the door to some revisions including using an Oreo crust in place of the more expensive chocolate wafer crust.
Another revision is the glaze. The original (which I’ve included) is delicious, but kind of firm compared to the texture of the cake. If you want a softer glaze I’ve listed an alternative or you could just pour on a basic chocolate ganache. Whatever you choose for the glaze, you’ll really like this cheesecake and get lots and lots of compliments!
Recipe
Chocolate Glazed Triple Layer Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust Layer
- 25 Oreos
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Chocolate Layer
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ounces of melted semisweet chocolate
- 1/3 cup sour cream
Brown Sugar Layer
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 Tbsp. flour all-purpose
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/4 cup pecans chopped
White Layer
- 5 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate glaze (two recipes follow, so pick one)
Instructions
- Crumb Crust: Grind Oreos (filling and all) in food processor or crush in a bag. Combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom and 2-inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Put in the freezer.
- Chocolate Layer: Combine 8 oz of cream cheese and 1/4 sugar and beat until creamy. Add 1 egg and 1/4 tsp. vanilla; blend well. Stir in melted chocolate and 1/3 cup sour cream. Spoon over chocolate crumb layer.
- Brown Sugar Layer: Combine 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1/3 cup brown sugar and flour and beat until well mixed. Add 1 egg and 1/2 tsp. vanilla; blend well. Stir in pecans. Spoon gently over chocolate layer.
- White Sour Cream Layer: Combine 5 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg and blend well. Stir in remaining 1 cup sour cream and vanilla. Spoon gently over praline layer.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour; turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven for 30 minutes; open door of oven and leave cheesecake in oven an additional 30 minutes. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then chill for 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove from pan and make one of the chocolate glazes listed.
- Original Chocolate Glaze (which gets kind of hard, but tastes good): Combine 6 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate and 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of water and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth. Pour over cake.
- Alternative Glaze: Heat 1/3 cup of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of corn syrup in a 2 cup microwave-safe glass measure until very hot but not quite boiling. Add 4 ounces of chopped chocolate (semisweet or dark) and stir until melted. At this point it will be rather thin, so let it sit for about 30 minutes or until it cools and thickens a bit, then pour it over the cheesecake.
- At this point, the cake needs some sort of garnish. You could pile chocolate leaves on top, add nuts or do what I do and drizzle lines of melted white chocolate over the top.
Sue
I found my notes from almost two years ago and they say this was a huge hit with the group I served I to.
Sue
The cheesecake is in the oven. I don’t think I was careful enough with the layering. I won’t know until Saturday night. I suppose it will taste good no matter what. I’ll let you know.
Anna
Sue, that’s a good question. Personally, I’d freeze it and put the glaze on a few hours before serving. However, if you’re in a situation where you can’t do that, then you could definitely glaze it and just freeze the whole thing.
Sue
When you make this ahead and freeze it do you glaze it before or after freezing? I think I’m going to make this for an event next weekend.
Ela
Hi Anna! Happy Holidays! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Now I know what to make for our New Year’s Eve dinner. I also can see lots of variations in the future and different add ins. Great recipe!
Anna
Karen, I just served this again tonight. I really think that the second topping I listed or a ganache made with 4 oz of cream and 4 oz of semisweet topping would be better than the original glaze, so if you make it, consider skipping the glaze the goes with the recipe and swapping it out for a ganache. About smaller cheesecakes, I have a couple of 3-inch pans and have made several small cheesecakes using recipes designed for that pan size, but making a recipe like this one in a 3 inch pan would require some trial and error in regard to baking time. One of these days I may try to scale this one down for a 3-inch pan.
Karen Schmidt-Dill
Since I adore chocolate, and cheesecake, this sounds WONDERFUL! I will be trying this. Have to go to the store to get Oreos, however.
Under the recipe in the related posts section is a recipe for red velvet cheesecake. That, I am going to try making NOW!
Have you ever made smaller cheesecakes, in non-spring form pans? I was thinking about 1/2 or even 1/3 size for 1-2 people. I know it would be more difficult to get out of the pan, but it could stay in the pan just like a pie for serving.
Anna
Hi Phyllis!
Use the whole Oreo — filling and all. I usually grind them up in the food processor. And yes, I promise you this cheesecake freezes well. One thing I like to do is line the inside of the pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil. When the cheesecake is nice and cold, you can just lift it from the bottom of the pan, wrap it in plastic, and freeze. Lately I’ve been lining the whole inside of the pan with Reynolds Release because it makes removing the chilled cake super easy AND I can put the bottom of the springform pan away and not worry about losing it. Lining the pan is especially helpful if you plan to make the cake and leave it somewhere, but I didn’t include that in the instructions because it’s not necessary.
Phyllis
Merry Christmas… this looks yummy, but question #1.. do I just use the whole cookies or just the cookie part of the oreos for the crust? #2… can it be frozen, as you mentioned? I always wonder about cheesecake and freezing..
thanks
Phyllis
Sarah
Yum! Happy holidays:)
Anna
You can’t go wrong with cookies! And this recipe is not going anywhere. Try it one day in 2014.
Sue
Anna! This sounds like a keeper recipe. I wish it had been on my radar. Instead I’ve been so indecisive that we’re going to end up settling for cookies for dessert. Merry Christmas to you and yours.