Chocolate Collar Cheesecake

This decadent cheesecake I made with my friend Natalie. I was so happy that it turned out with no cracks or splits, even though we used low fat ingredients! It comes from Jane's Price Desserts book, and like all her recipes, there's nothing I could fault.  The baileys is the perfect amount, giving a sort of elegant edge to this already indulgent dessert.  Our chocolate collar surrounding the colossal cheesecake was slightly messy, but who really cares when things taste this good?

Ingredients
200g plain chocolate biscuits, crushed (we used plain digestive biscuits and choc-chip cookies)
70g unsalted butter, melted
500g cream cheese, softened
75g sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp cocoa powder
300g sour cream
1/3 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
50g white chocolate, melted
150g dark chocolate, melted
310mL whipped cream
+unsweetened cocoa powder and icing sugar, for dusting

Chocolate Collar

Method
Brush a 23cm round springform cake tin with melted butter and line base with baking paper.  Mix together the biscuit crumbs and butter, pressing firmly into the base of the tin and refridgerate for 10 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fanforced).  Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth (tip: avoid over beating or end result will have cracks).  Add eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in cocoa powder and sour cream until just smooth.  Beat in cooled melted dark chocolate.  Beat in liqueur and pour over base.  Smooth surface and bake for about 45 minutes.  Cheesecake may not be fully set, but will firm up.  (Tip: allow cheesecake to come to room temperature in the oven).  Refridgerate until cold.  Remove cheesecake from tin, and put it on board.  Measure the height and add 5mm.  Cut strip of baking paper this wide and 75cm long.  (Tip: Measure this exactly for neat collar, do not have excess baking paper).  Pipe or drizzle melted white chocolate in a figure eight pattern along the paper.  When just set, spread the dark chocolate over the entire strip of paper.  Allow the chocolate to set a little, but you need to be able to bend paper without it cracking.  Wrap paper around the cheesecake with the chocolate on the inside.  Seal the ends and hold paper in place until completely set.  Peel away paper.  Spread the top of cheesecake with whipped cream, and dust with cocoa and icing sugar.  Serve. Savour.  Enjoy.