Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

Total Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 6 chocolate wafers
• 15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
• 8 ounces low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
• 1 large whole egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons amaretto (optional)
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 3 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 350°.
• 2 toast almonds on a small baking sheet for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. remove from oven; reduce heat to 325°.
• 3 coat an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray. wrap outside of pan in foil to prevent seepage.
• 4 process chocolate wafers and almonds in a food processor until fine crumbs. sprinkle 2 to 3 tbsp crumbs onto bottom of pan (just enough to coat bottom lightly). shake pan to distribute evenly. reserve remaining crumbs.
• 5 filling: puree ricotta in a food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. add cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg, egg whites, almond extract, flour and salt; puree until smooth.
• 6 whisk amaretto, if desired (or same amount of hot water), 2 tbsp hot water, cocoa powder and espresso powder in a bowl until well combined. stir in chocolate chips. stir 1 cup plain filling into chocolate mixture. set aside.
• 7 pour remaining plain filling into prepared pan. drizzle chocolate filling in a circular pattern over plain filling. using a knife, make circular strokes to create swirls in the plain filling. add 1 inch hot water to a shallow baking pan; place springform pan in baking pan.
• 8 bake until cheesecake is firm around the edge and slightly soft in the center, 45 to 55 minutes. run a knife around inside of pan. remove foil; let cool on a rack. chill 6 hours or overnight before removing sides of pan. press reserved crumbs onto side of cheesecake.