German Chocolate Cheesecake

My how time flies. My husband Jeremy celebrated another birthday at the end of March. It occurred to me (and him, although he tried to be a trooper about it) that in all the hoopla of going out to birthday dinners and such that he never actually got a birthday cake this year. His favorite cake is German Chocolate and he usually gets one every year as his birthday cake. As a belated surprise I decided to make this recipe from Kraft - a combo of German Chocolate and cheesecake, two of his favorite things. :)

I've never had much luck with cheesecakes before - they always seem to crack or the texture is a bit off. This time I did some research and asked around to get some tips. I made sure not to overbeat the batter and I used a water bath (place a rectangular baking dish on the bottom rack of the oven and fill it with boiling water). After baking for 50 minutes I turned off the oven, cracked the oven door open a little and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for an hour before refrigerating. This time the cheesecake came out perfectly, not a crack in sight! :) The flavor and texture were great - very smooth and a nice chocolate and cream cheese flavor. Now that I think I have the technique down I can't wait to try other cheesecake flavors!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tbls butter, melted
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup flour
1 (4 oz) package Baker's German sweet chocolate, melted
2 1/2 tsp vanilla, divided
4 eggs, divided
1/3 cup canned evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix chocolate wafer crumbs, 2 Tbsp. of the sugar and 3 Tbsp. butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min.

2. BEAT cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the flour in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add chocolate and 2 tsp. of the vanilla; mix well. Add 3 of the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

3. PLACE evaporated milk, remaining sugar, the 1/4 cup butter, remaining egg and remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla in small saucepan; cook on medium-low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in coconut and pecans. Cool. Spread over cheesecake just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.