9th St. Abbey's Snicker's Cheesecake

CRUST:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker
3/4 stick butter, melted

BROWNIE LAYER:
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs + 2 yolks
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 regular size snickers bars, cut bite size

CHEESECAKE LAYER:
24 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

GANACHE:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon Baileys' Irish cream or Kahlua

To prepare crust: In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 350ºF. To prepare brownie layer: Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler, melt butter, semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate, stirring occasionally. Set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together eggs and yolks on high speed. Beat in sugar, then vanilla until blended.

On a lower speed, alternate additions of flour mixture and melted chocolate, a little at a time, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until flour is incorporated. Do not overbeat. Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 16 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool 10 minutes. Push cut-up Snickers bars into brownie layer. Reduce oven heat to 325ºF. To prepare cheesecake layer: In large bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat until well-blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla. Pour cheesecake layer over brownie layer. Return pan to oven. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the sides begin to pull away from the pan and the top layer begins to look firm. The middle may still be soft, but it should not be runny. Let cake cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before removing the sides of the springform pan.

To prepare ganache: Bring cream and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips. Whisk until smooth. (Or place cream mixture and chocolate chips in a food processor and process until smooth.) Stir in liqueur. Let cool. Use ganache to frost or decorate cooled cheesecake. To decorate: Spoon cooled ganache into a pastry bag. Pipe decoratively onto finished cake. Garnish as desired. Store cheesecake in refrigerator. Yield: 12 to 14 servings.