Cheesecake is a dessert that is typically made with a pastry or cookie crust and has a cream cheese filling or topping. It can be baked or unbaked. The unbaked version is usually allowed to set by refrigerating it for 24 hours. Marble cheesecake is simply a cheesecake that has a mixture of cream cheese and chocolate that is lightly blended into the mixture so that the chocolate spirals out in streaks, or marbled layers. The ingredients are added in stages so that the mixture does not clump together and the marbled layers and streaks are able to stand out visually.
There are many cheesecake varieties, of which marble cheesecake is but one. Some other cheesecakes can include New York style cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, apple cheesecake and lemon cheesecake. Sometimes the cakes can be topped with fruit and nuts or dollops of cream. The filling is typically made from cream cheese, which is cheese made from cream and whole milk. Certain countries tend to use other forms of cheese, but cream cheese is the most widely employed.
Marble cheesecake can take a little time to prepare and bake, sometimes up to two hours. Some of the ingredients can include butter, flour, eggs and a small amount of melted chocolate that has been allowed to cool a little. A spring form pan is then greased with butter and crumbled cookies are pressed all around the bottom and edges of the pan. The crust is then placed into a refrigerator to cool.
Cream cheese is then mixed in a blender with sugar, salt, flour, eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. Half of this mixture is spooned into another bowl and sour cream is blended in with the melted chocolate. The two mixtures are then ladled onto the crust and swirled around with a spatula to create the marble cheesecake effect. The cheesecake is placed in an oven that has been preheated to 450° F (about 232° C) for about 15 minutes and the temperature is then lowered to 200°F (about 93° C) and it is baked for another hour.
The marble cheesecake is then allowed to sit and cool before it is refrigerated for at least 12 hours so that it can set. Before the marble cheesecake is served, it is carefully removed from the spring form pan and a knife that has been slightly heated is used to slice through the cake.
