Lightened Chocolate-Coffee Cheesecake with Mocha Sauce

Here is another $100,000 Southern Living recipe. This recipe is a slighter lighter version of the original. I have never tried the original version, but the lighter version is delicious! The next morning after making this cheesecake all I could think about was lunchtime and eating more cheesecake. I am not even a huge fan of cheesecake, but oh my this is yummy!

 I did alter the recipe some.

We don't have chocolate graham crackers here in Italy, so I used regular graham crackers.
I didn't use reduced-fat butter
Instead of the coffee liquer and instant coffee, I used 1/4 cup espresso
Instead of bittersweet chocolate, I used semisweet chocolate chips melted
For the mocha sauce, I used brewed espresso instead of regular coffee

Here is a pic of my cheesecake. This is only the second time I have ever used a springform pan so you can see that my crust still needs some work. This time when I made the cheesecake it cracked in the middle, meaning that it was overcooked.

Lightened Chocolate-Coffee Cheesecake With Mocha Sauce

Prep: 20 min.; Bake: 1 hr., 10 min.; Stand: 30 min.; Cool: 1 hr.; Chill: 4 hrs.
Yield: Makes 10 servings (serving size: 1 slice cheesecake and about 1 tbsp. mocha sauce)
Ingredients
2 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers (about 18 crackers)
1/3 cup reduced-fat butter, melted
Vegetable cooking spray
4 (8-oz.) packages reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup coffee liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
4 large eggs
4 (1-oz.) bittersweet baking chocolate squares
Mocha Sauce

Preparation
1. Stir together crushed graham crackers and melted butter; press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.

2. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add liqueur, vanilla, and coffee granules, beating at low speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition.

4. Remove and reserve 1 cup cream cheese mixture. Pour remaining batter into prepared crust.

5. Microwave chocolate in a medium-size, microwave-safe bowl 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Stir reserved 1 cup cream cheese mixture into melted chocolate, blending well. (Mixture will be thick.) Spoon mixture in lines on top of batter in pan; gently swirl with a knife.

6. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until almost set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven, with door closed, 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven, and gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. (Do not remove sides of pan.) Cool 1 hour on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

7. Remove sides of springform pan. Serve with Mocha Sauce.

Nutritional Information
Calories:464 (46% from fat)
Fat:24.8g (sat 13.7g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.4g)
Protein:14.9g
Carbohydrate:48.5g
Fiber:2g
Cholesterol:131mg
Iron:1.2mg
Sodium:411mg
Calcium:88mg
 
Mocha Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/4 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons reduced-fat butter
3 tablespoons strong-brewed coffee

Preparation
1. Cook first 3 ingredients in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in coffee. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information
Calories:92 (54% from fat)
Fat:6g (sat 3.7g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.2g)
Protein:1g
Carbohydrate:10.8g
Fiber:1g
Cholesterol:4mg
Iron:0.5mg
Sodium:10mg
Calcium:13mg