Cheesecake(s)

Crumbs.

One done, one in progress.
It's pretty obvious I didn't take time to take care of the chunks.

Two crusts done.

Cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and vanilla ready to go for the plain.

Mixed.
I have to admit that I didn't like the chunks so I put it in the blender before pouring.
Which is a good thing because I'd forgotten to add the sugar.

Poured.

Sour cream, sugar and vanilla ready to go for the chocolate.

Eggs ready to go and baking chocolate ready to melt.

After the eggs have been added.

Ready to mix in the melted chocolate.

Chocolate mixed in.

The side of the bowl.
I just thought this looked cool.

Both ready to go in the oven.
It's handy that if I do the chocolate in the shiny pan, they can both be baked at the same temperature, just different amounts of time.

Plain done.

Chocolate just out of the oven.

Both done.
The plain will get cherries added to it before we eat it.
The chocolate is heavenly just the way it is.

Just in case you might want the recipes, I decided to be nice and share them with you.

For the crust:

Ingredients:

18 Oreo cookies (we take the middles out and the human children eat them) finely crushed
3 tablespoons melted butter
Directions:
Mix crushed Oreo's and butter in springform pan with a fork. Press firmly onto bottom of pan.

For the plain cheesecake:

Ingredients:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Beat together in a blender or food processor the sour cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla and half of the cream cheese.
3. Add remaining cream cheese about 2-3 tablespoons at a time.
4. Add butter.
5. Pour into crust and bake just until set, about 35 minutes.

For the chocolate cheesecake:

Ingredients:

3 pounds cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces baking chocolate (I like to use semi-sweet or bitter), melted
3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees if using a sliver 9-inch springform pan or 300 degrees if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan.
2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
3. Add melted chocolate and mix well.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended.
5. Pour over crust and bake 55 minutes to 1 hour until center is almost set.

And there you have it. For the cherries for the plain, I just drain the juice from a can or jar of unsweetened pie cherries. I mix about a tablespoon of corn starch with about a cup of sugar in a pot and slowly stir in the cherry juice. I stir this until it comes to a boil at whatever temperature I feel like (usually pretty high because I am not a fan of standing at the stove stirring). Once it's boiled for a minute or so, I remove it from the heat and stir the cherries in. And there you have it again.

Behold the cherry cheesecake.