S'more Cheesecake, anyone?

Happy New Year! Are you ready to scoff at your resolution to eat only healthy things? Me too! Put down the grilled celery and pick up your fork; it’s time for S’more Cheesecake!

S’MORE CHEESECAKE

For the crust:

1¾ cups crushed graham crackers

3 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

4 8-ounce blocks of cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 cups marshmallow crème

5 large eggs

For the topping:

8 ounces milk chocolate chips

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Crushed graham crackers

Directions:

Okay! Fire up your oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch Springform pan with a parchment circle. I’d like to say that I chose the smaller pan because I wanted the cake to be tall, reminiscent of a marshmallow, but I’d totally be lying. I just couldn’t find the 9-inch pan.

Stir the crust ingredients together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined and crumbly. Pat the crumbliness into the bottom of your pan and just a teeny bit up the sides. Set the pan aside and dig out your stand mixer.

Make sure that your dairy products are at room temperature, or you will have a lumpy cake and a desire to swear. Whirl the cream cheese around until it’s nice and smooth, then chuck in the sour cream and vanilla and blend for another minute.

Scrape the marshmallow crème into the dairy blend. You don’t have to measure; about three-fourths of a large jar will be fine. Mix at medium speed for a minute, and then add the eggs and continue to mix for, oh, call it 90 seconds.

Pour the resulting goo into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Set the whole wobbly mess into a larger cake pan and slide the assembly into the oven. Fill the outer pan with water, close the oven, and set the timer for an hour and a half. Go have some coffee.

When the timer dings, admire the incredibly gorgeous caramelized top of your cake for a couple of seconds, then lay a sheet of foil over it. Turn off the heat and let your cake sit in the closed, still-hot oven for another hour. Once the hour is up, remove the cake pan from the water bath, lay a sheet of cling wrap over the top, and put your still-in-the-pan cake in the fridge to cool overnight.

To make the topping, put your chocolate chips (measured by weight, not volume; this is important) in a bowl and heat the cream to a simmer. Pour the cream over the chocolate and slap a lid on the bowl for five minutes. Stir until thoroughly blended and let it sit uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Pry your cheesecake out of the pan and set it on a super-flat serving plate. Pour a large puddle of the melted chocolate over the top and spread it around with a rubber spatula. Encourage it to dribble over the sides.

Sprinkle a thick layer of graham-cracker crumbs over the top. Set the cake in front of your guests and stand back.

Enjoy!

— Have a question or suggestion for Bite Sighs? Email Audrey Lintner at bitesighs@hotmail.com.