Ingredients
16 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus...
2 tbsp sugar, (divided)
1/2 cup hershey's cocoa
2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
2 eggs
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 graham crust (recipe follows)
1 fresh fruit, sliced
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In large mixer bowl, beat cream
cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla until well
blended. Add eggs; blend well. Pour batter into prepared Graham
Crust. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven; cool 15 minutes. Increase
oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In small bowl, stir
together sour cream, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and remaining 1
teaspoon vanilla until smooth; spread evenly over top of cheesecake.
Bake 10 minutes; remove from oven. Loosen cheesecake from side of
pan; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate several hours or
overnight; remove side of pan. Garnish with fresh fruit. Cover;
refrigerate leftover cheesecake. 10 to 12 servings.
Graham Crust: In bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/3
cup sugar, and 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine. Press mixture onto
bottom and halfway up side of 9-inch springform pan. Variation:
Chocolate Lover's Cheesecake: Prepare batter as directed above; stir
1 cup Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips into batter before pouring
into crust. Bake and serve as directed.
Hershey's is a registered trademark of Hershey Foods Corporation.
Recipe may be reprinted courtesy of the Hershey Kitchens.
Meal-Master compatible format by: Karen Mintzias
Servings: 1 cake
Cocoa Cheesecake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cheesecake; Dessert
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to follow the history of written cooking instructions back into ancient history, in fact as far as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Having said that, generally, these old cookbooks were just very simple pictorial instructions for preparing meals.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some stone tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who drank it feel `blissful`. Progressing into Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a number of scripts detailing recipes prepared by wealthy roman citizens. In his works, he tells us how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main course and afters, something we still use today. He also tells us how the Romans made use of a good variety of spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks for example basil, rue and parsley. Continuing our culinary historical journey, there are a couple of cookery books from the 14th Century - one book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these books are not about the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of food on the menues of the nobility of that time. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods, spices and herbs from the East, including coriander, basil and rosemary. These new foods and spices caused an increase in cookery books, most of which are kept safe in private collections. Over the succeeding few hundred years, the wealthy families of Wesstern Europe competed to lay on the best banquets, and as a result the best cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century the formal cooking and recipe books became popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to collecting, testing, and publishing recipes of the day. When we get to the twentieth century, recipe publications are highly popular due to increased literacy, people having more leisure time and being a little richer. |
We hope you enjoy this Cocoa Cheesecake recipe.
