Cheesecake (Tiramisu)

Cheesecake is a dessert made of cream cheese and eggs baked on a cookie crust. Such as graham crackers, oreos, or even lady fingers. The cake can be topped with fresh fruits, canned fruits, nuts, and/or chocolate. Tiramisu is a popular Italian cakes. It is made with lady fingers (savoiardi) dipped in espresso with rum and/or coffee liqueur then layered with a whipped mixture of mascarpone cheese, egg yolks, sugar, espresso, and coffee liqueur. The top is sprinkled with cocoa powder.

Combining cheesecake and tiramisu can turn into an amazing dessert! It can satisfy the sweet tooth and alcohol fixation. The coffee liqueur can be omitted from the recipe if you do not have it on hand or if you dislike or are simply allergic to alcohol. Adding more coffee liqueur or less coffee liqueur is your choice.

"Tiramisu" Cheesecake can be found on allrecipes.com
I used about 3/4 package of lady fingers versus one whole package. If you want a thick crust, use the whole package. To crush the lady fingers to fine crumbs, use a food processor and pulse. I did not have a food processor so I used a regular blender, that works equally fine. I pulsed it until it was fine and still had some pea size crumbs.
Although the recipe did not call for espresso, I brewed fresh espresso and added it into the crust and the cheese mixture along with the coffee liqueur. To cut down cost, instead of using real mascarpone cheese which is about $4 - $5 a tub I used a substitution. I mix a package of cream cheese (8 oz) with 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 Tablespoons of sour cream until smooth. The sour cream wasn't really necessary but since I had it in my refrigerator I might as well use it.
As for the amounts of espresso and coffee liqueur I added in both crust and cheese mixture, I eye balled it. I would say I used approximately 1/3 cup of espresso and 1/2 cup coffee liqueur in the crust and cheese mixture. The amount will depend on your preference. If you like the strong aroma and taste of espresso and/or coffee liqueur then add more. Adding more flour to the cheese mixture than what the recipe calls for is highly recommended if you add more espresso/coffee liqueur. The flour will help thicken the cheesecake and makes it more sturdier.
When baking, use a water bath. This will gently bake the cheesecake. Cheesecakes needs a full day to set. Therefore, you should prepare the cheesecake a day ahead.
Once the cheesecake has set and placed in the refrigerator overnight, I poured chocolate ganache over the entire cheesecake. I omitted the butter and placed it with the same amount of coffee liqueur. I also decreased the amount of heavy whipping cream so the ganache can become a thick glaze. To easily hide any imperfections on the side, I coated the side with sliced almonds, giving the cake an elegant look. I then used whipped ganache to top of the top.
This cheesecake was made for one of my closest friends' 24th birthday. It is one of the best looking cake I ever made. And the best compliment I received was from our waitress who asked me where I bought the cake because it tasted and looked incredible and was in disbelief when I told her I made it!
Happy Birthday Anna Hoang!♥ ♥