How can eating a slice of coconut cheesecake feel so rewarding?
Maybe it has something to do with those famous chocolate wafers. Have you ever had those, from Nabisco? It comes in a yellow box, and each chocolate wafer taste like a flattened Oreo (just the cookie part, no cream filling).
I remember looking for these famous chocolate wafers about a year ago and my grocery store was constantly out of stock (are they that famous?). I remember bookmarking recipes to make homemade chocolate wafers but never getting around to it. And I remember the slight high I felt once I found those wafers. Because I knew they would make the perfect base for icebox cakes and chocolate crusts.
So when I decided to make cheesecake again and used those chocolate wafers in the crust, I felt a small sense of victory.
Those famous chocolate wafers lent a deep, almost bitter, dark chocolate flavor to the milky coconut cheesecake. In hindsight, I would’ve added coconut flakes to the crust, too (I have a thing for double coconut treats). But I didn’t need to; the cheesecake had plenty of coconut flavor in the batter and in the whipped cream.
As some of you know, I don’t have a fancy mixer (or even a non-fancy mixer) – I mix everything by hand. Even when I’m creaming butter, it’s all old-school muscle power. However I haven’t yet attempted to make whipped cream without a mixer, so I just buy the ready-made stuff from Whole Foods or sometimes Cool Whip. I mean Cool Hwip.
I also don’t have a spring form pan, so I made cheesecake bars instead of the 9″ round cheesecake in the original recipe. I like bars better anyway, they are a little more low maintenance. (In all honesty, I’m a little scared of springform pans. Check out this post on A Plum By Any Other Name – I have a feeling something similar could easily happen to me.)
So this coconut cheesecake –
With a wallop – not just a dollop – of sweet, coconut flavored, semi-homemade whipped cream,
And a dense, dark, deep chocolate crust,
Made me feel like I can do anything.
Like I can easily cream together sugar and cream cheese until they turn smooth and silky. Like I can always pound out my stress onto helpless chocolate wafers and end up with a delectable crust. Like I can really bake cheesecake without being scared. Without a springform pan. Nor a mixer. And I did. Easily, always, really.
Sure, those are small victories. But my point is… eating just one bar of this coconut cheesecake feels really rewarding. Now how can other cheesecakes compare to that?
1 package chocolate wafers, crushed
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups ready made whipped cream (or make your own from scratch)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
recipe adapted from Saveur's Smoked Coconut Cheesecake
Do you have a favorite cheesecake recipe? Please share in the comments section!