Chocolate-raspberry mascarpone dessert

Good I had girls over that evening. Otherwise, I would have eaten half of it while taking pictures. I'm not kidding. The cheesecake is delicious. Light and smooth with a subtle taste of mascarpone. More like a creamy dessert with a crust than a cake. Easy and fast, if you are not counting refrigeration time. But it's worth waiting, preferably overnight.

Yeah, it got a bit messy when I tried to get it out of the form, flipping it upside down. The messy part is often the best, especially when no one is looking. But I put the knife away just in time, cleaned it to the last bit, re-wrapped the cheesecake, put it back in the fridge and had a shot of espresso to fool my taste buds into thinking that I was finished. It worked. I saved the cake. The girls enjoyed it.

The cake is Giada's idea. One of her easy, simple, foolproof, and not to mention, fantastic recipes. I just changed it a bit, made a little less crust (than the first time). The ingredients, you'll probably find in your pantry or fridge. A little bit of blending, mixing, spreading, melting. Nice things to do. No stress.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
time: 10 min preparation + 55 min (15 min + 40 min) baking + 24 hr cooling

ingredients
crust

• 4 oz (112 g)whole wheat biscottis (or any crushable cookies), broken into pieces
• 4 Tablespoons (60 g) cold butter chopped into pieces
• 1/4 cup (25 g) cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• butter for greasing the form

filling

• 4-5 oz (about 120 g) dark chocolate (50 % cocoa) broken into pieces
• 9 oz (250 g) mascarpone cheese room temperature
• 5/6 cup (200 ml) sour cream room temperature
• 5 eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
• seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F/160C (fan forced function). Grease 10x7x2 inch (27x17x6 cm) glass baking dish. Butter also a piece of parchment paper big enough to line and overhang a bit outside the baking dish.
2. In food processor with a steel blade, place cookie and butter pieces, cocoa and sugar. Blend till all covered in grease, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer it all onto a prepared baking dish. Press it firmly with your hands against the bottom. Place it in the hot oven for 15 minutes. Take it out (you can turn oven off for 15 minutes or so) and let it cool for at least 25 minutes. Spread raspberry jam on top. 
3. Melt chocolate pieces over a pot of hot water. As soon as water starts boiling, turn it off. Keep mixing chocolate till all smooth for 1-2 minutes.
4. In a bowl of a standing mixer, using a whisk attachment on medium speed, blend mascarpone, sour cream, eggs, sugar and vanilla, for 2-3 minutes. Pour the filling on top of prepared crust. Randomly spoon melted chocolate on top. Using a tip of a knife, drag chocolate to make some swirls. Do it fast, chocolate cools and hardens fast. Place the dessert in the hot (325F/160C) oven for 40 minutes. Take it out. The cake will be have a running middle. Let it cool outside the oven. Wrap it with a plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight.