Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

That's a mouthful isn't it?! I assure you, however, it's a delicious mouthful.


I've made this cheesecake before, many times. With a different crust. You can choose which crust you like better. Or try both. Or make some kind of combination of the two. And honestly, it's ridiculously yummy and rich with any crust. You can use this recipe (I'd advise that you replace the 2 tablespoons butter in the coffee cream with 2 tablespoons sugar--I'm pretty sure it's an error in the recipe) or you can use this one (everything is exactly the same except the crust):

Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
*click here for printable version*

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
2-1/4 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1-2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream (For the love of all that is holy, don't use Carolan's. Just don't.)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Coffee Cream:
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
chocolate curls (or more semisweet chips) as garnish

For Crust:
Preheat oven to 325. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with vegetable cooking spray. Combine crumbs and sugar in pan. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until light brown, usually about 7 minutes. Maintain oven temperature at 325.

For Filling:
Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar, then eggs one at a time, then Bailey's and finally the vanilla. Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over crust. Spoon in filling. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.


Bake until cake is puffed, springy in the center and golden brown, about 1 hour & 20 minutes. Cool cake completely in refrigerator.

For Cream:
Beat cream, sugar and coffee powder until peaks form. Spread mixture over cooled cake. Garnish with chocolate curls.


Obviously, at some point before serving, you need to remove the outer ring from the springform pan, but you'll need to leave the cheesecake on the bottom piece of the pan for serving, or it will become kind of a mess.

I will admit, I take the easy way out, (following the directions here) and use an electric mixer.


Tita Rax, who knows waaayyy more about cheesecakes than I do, says that in order for it to be authentically dense, it has to be mixed by hand. Honestly, I've done that and it's just too much manual labor for me. If you decide to take that road, you should know that you will need to cook the cheesecake for a little longer than the time given above.

As many times as I've made this, the whole cheesecake thing gives me fits every time.


See that big crack down the middle? It's moist in there. And I'm never sure whether it's just the right amount of moisture, or if it's the undone brand of moisture. So, I always end up nervously cooking it for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes longer than the recipe indicates. But, really, it's cheesecake with Bailey's in it. Undercooked--overcooked--who cares? Yum.

TGIP Rating--Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cheesecake--KEEPER--duh!

Next up: I made this for a St. Patrick's Day party, but a much more fabulous St. Patrick's Day treat awaits you on the actual day. The Priestess, who performed my marriage ceremony, guest blogs. I can't wait!