Yesterday was our son Asher's 18th birthday. It's almost impossible to believe that it was 18 years ago we brought this tiny baby home from the hospital and now he's a big, strapping young man.We always let the kids pick what dessert (cake or anything else they want) for their birthday. Asher almost always chooses a cheesecake. He and I both love cheesecake and on other birthdays we have made Reece Cup Cheesecake, Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake, and Turtle Cheesecake. This year he couldn't decide what sounded good so I suggested he "design" his own. We discussed several different ideas and then he decided on my making a cheesecake that was a copy of a Zero candy bar.
So we decided on a cheesecake with a chocolate crust, a nice light chocolate inside and a white chocolate ganache on top with nuts sprinkled on it. I dug out several favorite cheesecake recipes and here's what we ended up with!
The result was absolutely delicious. It didn't last long around here because we had a birthday dinner for Asher last night and everyone ate on the cheesecake after supper.
Our birthday menu was made entirely by Asher. I have to say he did a good job on his dinner choices. We had barbequed chicken, cucumber salads (one creamy and one in vinegar), two different pasta salads, green beans, carrots, and fresh-from-the-garden corn on the cob. For bread I made piping hot biscuits served with butter and homemade jams. For dessert, it was Zero Bar Cheesecake by Asher and mom and watermelon. It was a feast fit for a--birthday boy!
We got Asher a new digital camera for his birthday. He is wanting to document his senior year in high school and make his own yearbook. Sounds fun to me!
I just want to stop right here and thank the Lord for giving us Asher. He's our first adopted child. We named him Asher because it means "how blessed" and we wanted that to stand for our blessing in the Lord giving him to us and us being a blessing to him in raising him.
It has turned out just that way. He received the Lord as his Savior at a very young age and has
always had a tender and sensitive conscience toward the Lord. What a blessing for us as parents.
Well, with all that said, how about my giving you the recipe for Asher's Zero Bar Cheesecake!
Crust:
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/2 cup margarine (melted)
4 Tbsp. light brown sugar
pinch of salt
I use an oreo-type cookie and scrape out the filling and then finely crush (or use your food processor) the cookies till you have 2 cups of crumbs. It takes about two rows of the cookies and then I put all the extra stuffing into the cookies I have left and the kids eat double-or-triple stuffed oreos at their bedtime snack!
Grease your springform pan and then mix the crumbs, melted margarine, brown sugar and pinch of salt and press this mixture evenly in the bottom of your springform pan. Bake until set. Most recipes say 8-10 minutes but I've found this is too long. Bake it at 350 degrees and after you take the crust out of the oven turn your oven down to 325 degrees.
Filling:
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
In a saucepan, melt chocolate chips over low heat. Stir them till smooth and then remove from heat and add the whipping cream. Set this aside.
In your mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until blended well. Add the cocoa and beat well. Now add the eggs, (with mixer on low) one at a time. Blend just until combined. Stir in the vanilla and the reserved chocolate mixture. Stir just until blended. Pour this over the crust and bake for 45-50 minutes or just until the center is almost set.
Topping:
1 bag of white chocolate chips (divided)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. chopped nuts
For topping, melt 1 1/2 cups of the white chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly and until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the whipping cream and vanilla. Spread over baked filling, then take the rest of the chips and sprinkle over the topping. Sprinkle the chopped nuts over topping too. Refrigerate overnight. Carefully run a knife around the edge when ready to take sides off. (I dip the knife in hot water!) Just before serving you can put whipped cream on it for decoration if you want.
Enjoy!
Our son Asher on his 18th birthday!
