Irish Cream Cheesecake: or, Decadence by Request

Until we in the United States discover this weird foreign concept called "public transit," cars remain a necessity. For this reason, it is always wise to have friends who love to work on cars and also have a weakness for dessert.

Irish Cream Cheesecake 1 pie pan or 9" round cake pan, lined with graham cracker crust 1¼ lb. cream cheese 1 cup minus 2 tbsp sugar 4½ tsp flour ½ tsp vanilla 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 2 (50mL each) mini-bottles Irish cream, or 7 tablespoons Heat oven to 300°. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the whole eggs and the yolk, one at a time, beating well after each. Then mix in the Irish cream. Pour the batter into the crust. Bake the cheesecake until it jiggles just a bit in the center (for me, it was about 40 minutes). Chill for at least 2 hours. When the cheesecake is firm (or at least firm-ish), make the hot fudge sauce and spread it on top. Return the refrigerator and chill overnight. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. The World's Best Hot Fudge Sauce ½ cup heavy cream 3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces ⅓ cup granulated sugar ⅓ cup dark brown sugar Pinch of salt ½ cup cocoa powder Place the cream and butter in a medium-size bowl. Microwave it 10 seconds at a time, stirring well after each time, until the butter melts. Stir in the sugars. Microwave it for 10 seconds at a time, stirring well after each time, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Taste and check for undissolved granules. Whisk in the cocoa powder and salt, beating hard to break up any cocoa lumps. (If any stubborn lumps remain, use a rubber spatula to press them against the sides of the bowl.) Note: You may a bit of extra cheesecake batter that doesn't fit in the pan. If so, you can put one or two paper liners into a cupcake pan (depending on how much batter you have), and press a little bit of crumb-crust mixture into each. Then pour in the batter, filling each one about two-thirds full. Bake them alongside the cheesecake. Or, you can freeze the unbaked cupcakes as described here and bake them whenever you want. Cheesecake adapted from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin, 2011 Hot fudge sauce from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, Maida Heatter, 1974

When my brakes were due for replacement, I asked a friend if he would, um, "help" me in exchange for the dessert of his choice. This cheesecake was the result. We previously met this recipe when we stacked it in the Saint Patcaken. Since we are making today's cheesecake as payment, we stirred in not one but two mini-bottles of Irish cream.

You can tell how divine this cheesecake will be when you swirl the batter with a spoon. It just feels good. The hardest part of making it was resisting the temptation to get out a spoon and eat it before baking.

Because I really wanted to show my appreciation for the automotive aid, I decided that this cheesecake should not be served bare-topped. Instead, it would be covered with hot fudge sauce. The first drips of chocolate gave the cheesecake an upscale, monogrammed look.

But we all know that chocolate-flavored automotive thanks should never be rationed. We poured a lot more hot fudge sauce on top before setting our sweet compensation in the refrigerator.

The next day, the cheesecake had become everything I hoped for. (We may have cut our sample slice before it was fully chilled.) At any rate, my friend who so generously "helped" with my brake job did not feel shortchanged.

So, if you need to pay for favors with dessert (or if you want to do a big favor to yourself), prepare space in your refrigerator for an Irish cream cheesecake. You will only regret that you gave it away.