- Prep Time: 4h 15m
- Cook Time: 1h
- Total Time: 5h 15m
- Yield: serves 16
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
- 8 whole chocolate graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs
For the Cake:
- 3 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, at rook temperature
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- red icing color
For the Gel Frosting:
- ¼ cup COLD water
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch (see note)
- red icing color
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper or foil, letting the paper cover the edges of the bottom of the pan and closing the springform edge around it (this makes for easy removal later on).
- Combine the crushed chocolate grahams and melted butter until the crumbs are evenly coated. Press into the prepared pan.
- Beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add the unsweetened cocoa and mix until combined, making sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom at least once.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. The mix in the vanilla, salt and heavy cream.
- Add the red icing color until the batter is a deep red color. I started with ¼ teaspoon and ended up using maybe ½ - ¾ teaspoon total.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it over the crust.
- Bake for 20 minutes ate 325F. Then reduce the oven temperature to 225F and bake for 30 more minutes. Turn the oven off and DO NOT open the oven door. Just let the cheesecake stay in there until the oven cools to room temperature. This prevents cracking.
- Use a knife to gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan before popping the springform sides open.
- To make the gel frosting, stir together the cold water and cornstarch until smooth. Pour it into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Pour in the corn syrup and stir until the mixture is heated through and smooth. You will need to stir frequently; you can watch it thicken as it cooks.
- Remove the mixture from the burner after 1-2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and red icing color. I used about ½ teaspoon of color to achieve the look here. Let the gel cool before spooning it over the cake.
- Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.
- NOTES
- For the cake pictured, I actually made 2 batches of the gel frosting. For the first batch I used 4 teaspoons of cornstarch. It makes a thicker gel. I spread it over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Then I refrigerated the cake. That kept the drips in place. The second batch I made with 3 teaspoons of cornstarch and spooned it over the cake when serving. It looks like fake blood and is pretty great.
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