Valentine's Day Cheesecake

For Valentines Day, I made Branden a cheesecake, not just any cheesecake, though. I went all out for this one. First off, here is the marbled cheesecake....
Then I added a strawberry I had cut to look like a heart and surrounded the perimeter of the cheesecake with raspberries. I used frozen ones so as they thawed, they ran a bit on the cake but it still turned out quite nice. I then melted chocolate chips a mixed them with a tablespoon of butter to thin. I put that in a wax paper bag and cut a hole in a corner. I squeezed out chocolate hearts on another piece of wax paper and put them in the freezer to cool. I put the chocolate hearts on the cheesecake. The cheesecake was still a bit warm so the hearts melted and it turned out perfect! This picture is of the finished product chilling in my refrigerator.

This is me and my cheesecake, I'm so proud of it!!!!

oh yeah and that's my new red hair! :)

Cheesecake recipe
source: Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 45 minutes
Cool: 1 3/4 hours
Chill: 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 c finely chopped walnuts (optional)... I omitted these
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 c butter, melted

• 3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 c sugar
• 2 T all purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 c milk

• 2 packages/envelopes Nestle Chocobake
  
• approximately 1T sugar
• approximately 1 T milk (I just kind of poured so I'm not sure on the exact measurement I used)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. CRUST: combine crushed crackers, walnuts, cinnamon. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom of springform pan
3. FILLING: beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla with electric mixer. Add eggs and egg yolk, beating on low until just combined. Stir in milk
1. For chocolate swirl, remove half of filling mixture and add 2 packages Nestle Chocobake (pre-melted unsweetened chocolate), more sugar for taste and milk to thin to same consistency as rest of filling
4. Pour chocolate filling in first, add plain filling on top of that
5. Use a knife or spatula to swirl
6. Bake 35-40 minutes for 9" springform pan, 40-45 minutes for the 8" springform pan, until center appears nearly set when gently shaken
7. Cool for at least 15 mintues before taking a knife and gently loosening edges
8. Cool for at least another 30 minutes before adding pretty effects on top (chocolate hearts, raspberries and strawberries)
9. Chill 4 hours
   
10. SAVOR!
    

*NOTES:

• I am still learning the fine art of making a good graham cracker crust. I would probably try to use more butter to make the crust pack better.
• Frozen berries just didn't work as well as fresh ones would have