Coconut Almond Cheesecake
By: Andie Mitchell
Published: Thursday, July 22, 2010 - 10:39am

Ingredients




Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
8 ounces packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1 tablespoon coconut extract
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Glaze
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1 For crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with foil. 2 Finely grind cracker crumbs, coconut, almonds and sugar in food processor. Add butter; process until moist crumbs form. Press mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake crust until set and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. 3 For filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Mix in coconut and extract . Fold in almonds. Transfer filling to crust. Bake until cake is puffed and no longer moves when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely on rack. 4 For glaze: Combine 1 cup chocolate chips, cream and vanilla in small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until smooth. Cool until glaze begins to thicken but can still be poured, about 30 minutes. Pour glaze over cooled cake; spread evenly. Chill cake overnight. 5 Run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Release pan sides.

About


An Almond Joy-inspired cheesecake. A puffed layer of sweet coconut-scented cream cheese, set atop a buttered graham cracker-almond crust, and topped with a rich chocolate ganache. Sprinkled with toasted coconut, because we could always use a little more decadence in our lives... and because taupe was missing in our color palette.
Recipe from Epicurious, found here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Joy-Cheesecake-4999