Two things I dearly love are bourbon and cheesecake. And if I had to choose between the two? Uhhhhh… I’d choose bourbon cheesecake because that’s an impossible choice! And, thanks to today’s recipe, I now know that’s a thing. With chocolate. Yes, Bourbon Cheesecake with Boozy Chocolate for Two is a thing, and I simply could not resist giving it a try. It sounds indulgent, but the individual portions will keep my sweet tooth from getting out of hand. Nice!
Bourbon Cheesecake with Boozy Chocolate for Two is the perfect small batch dessert for your sweetheart. Creamy bourbon cheesecake with a shortbread crust topped with smooth chocolate sauce heated with more bourbon.
The Ingredients
It’s been a while since I’ve made a cheesecake, but this recipe seems to have fewer ingredients than most recipes. It could be the simple chocolate topping, but I’m not looking it up. I’m just going to enjoy the fact that I don’t have to buy a million ingredients.
I did have to pick up a few things, but they were all basics. And, I have noticed, vanilla extract is getting expensive. Stock up if you find it on sale!
I also had to make a trip to the liquor store for a new bottle of bourbon. I do run out once in a while LOL. If you’re not a big bourbon drinker, buy a mini—you need just under 2 tablespoons for this recipe. A 50ml mini will be just enough with a few drops to spare. My favorite brands (in no particular order) are Knob Creek, Jim Beam, and Bulleit.
The Process
This bourbon cheesecake wasn’t too difficult, but it did take a while. They had to cool to room temperature in the hot oven, and that took a few hours. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with the times:
- 15 minutes to prep
- 30 minutes to cook
- 3 hours to cool in the oven
- 2 minutes to make the chocolate sauce and top the cheesecakes
- 3 hours 47 minutes total (chilling time not included)
First up was the crusts. Mixing the dough was easy, but I ended up with sticky fingers. That caused problems as I pressed the dough into the mini cheesecake pans. A little extra flour took care of that issue, though, and I parbaked the crusts while I made the cheese filling.
The cheese filling was as easy as the instructions made it sound, and I had it mixed up in just a few minutes. It was ready to pour into the crusts when they were done. And that was when I discovered the reason for only making the crusts come halfway up the side of the pans—that’s the level the filling went to. Duh!
Baking was fairly quick, and I’m happy to report there was no water bath needed. However, cooling in the oven meant waiting a few hours. Then it was into the refrigerator overnight because it was the end of the day at this point. Perfect if I was eating the cheesecake that night, but not so good for photos.
I picked things up the next afternoon with the bourbon chocolate sauce. Once it was ready, it was time to remove the cheesecakes from their pans. I noticed the recipe didn’t call for them to be greased, so there was some apprehension. I (desperately) hoped the nonstick pans and all the butter in the crust would probably keep things from sticking, and they did.
