Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package chocolate wafers
• 2 tablespoons apricot jam, melted
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 4 egg whites
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2 place ricotta in a food processor and blend till creamy.
• 3 add the egg whites and blend until smooth.
• 4 add cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla. process until smooth.
• 5 transfer half of the filling to another bowl and stir in the cocoa and almond extract and blend until well combined.
• 6 add an additional 2 tablespoons sugar.
• 7 prepare the crust:.
• 8 place a few wafer cookies in processor and pulse until finely ground.
• 9 repeat with more cookies a few at a time.
• 10 spray a 9" spring form pan with no-stick spray on the bottom and up the sides. set aside.
• 11 in a medium bowl stir together the crumbs and melted jam until well combined.
• 12 using your fingers lightly press the crumbs and melted jam into the bottom and about 2" up the sides of the pan.
• 13 bake crust at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.
• 14 remove from the oven and set aside.
• 15 increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
• 16 pour 1/2 of of each filling into the crust.
• 17 using a spatula gently swirl the two fillings to create a "marble" look.
• 18 bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
• 19 remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes without unsnapping the hinge. loosen the crust slightly from the sides of the pan.
• 20 then cool for another 30 minutes.
• 21 unsnap the sides of the pan and cool on the counter completely to the touch.
• 22 place in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.
• 23 garnish top with additional fine chocolate wafer crumbs or dark chocolate shavings.