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As my faithful readers may guess, I hesitate to utter or type the word “bam,” let alone “BAM!”  I find it appropriate here however because of two things.  Firstly, I stole this recipe from none other than the “bam-man” himself, Emeril Lagasse. Second this cheesecake hits you like so many extra handfulls of whatever it may be, BAM! Leaving the audience (you,) asking for more. At first glance, any pastry minded person would wonder at the food processor method and the addition of flour for this cheesecake.  Also, no water bath while baking?  My employer Adam mused that it was no doubt some kind of shortcut or compensation for poor technique.  The likelihood of him being correct doesn’t change the silky texture and pure indulgence of this tangy chocolately treat.  The only thing did I differently was to increase the milk chocolate by 2 ounces.   I use a water bath, too.  I just have to.  I also use a milk-chocolate feuillitine crust after baking and chilling and an oreo cookie round when it hits the plate.  I make the milk chocolate crust by melting the chocolate over a double-bloier, then mixing in enough feuillitine to have a fluid but crunchy texture.  I bet you could use chopped cereal flakes and have similiar results, if you’re having trouble finding the feuillitine. I hate soggy graham cracker crust.  At first I baked it in a square and cut rectangles, but soon switched to the demisphere, which due to gravity actually bakes things into truncated domes.  I glaze them in dark chocolate and pipe the cute little milk chocolate lines.  For sauce I use a blood orange caramel, which balances with he milk chocolate nicely.  When I sauce the plate, I envision the mask of Rorschach from Watchmen, because I’m a silly dreamer.

Emeril Lagasse’s Milk Chocolate Cheesecake

3 pounds cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup bleached all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

10 ounces milk chocolate, melted

Beat the cream cheese in a food processor until smooth. Add the sugar and process. Add the eggs 1 at a time, running the processor in between each addition. Add the heavy cream, flour, salt, and vanilla and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the motor running, add the chocolate in a steady stream. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake (in a water bath) until the center of the cake sets, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Oreo Cookie

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz soft butter

1 tsp salt

1 tblsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups A.P. Flour

Cream the butter, salt and sugar well, but not to light and fluffy

Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then mix to form a dough

Cover with plastic and chill at least one hour before rolling on a floured surface and cutting out cookies

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes