This is a delightful dessert. It’s a refrigerated dessert made in a graham cracker crust. Make the filling by whipping cream cheese and Bavarian cream (or vanilla pudding) together.
Garnish it with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
For the crust
- 1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- In a nine-inch springform pan, mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar together.
- Press the mixture across the bottom of the pan and up the sides to form the crust.
- Put the crust in the refrigerator to set the butter while you mix the filling.
For the filling
- 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups Bavarian Cream (see substitutes)
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate wafers or quality dark chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In your stand-type mixer and with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until it is soft and smooth.
- Add the Bavarian Cream and continue beating, scraping down the sides until smooth.
- Melt the chocolate and drizzle the hot chocolate into the filling while the paddle is turning. Add the extract and mix until smooth.
- To assemble, spread the filling into the crust and smooth with a spatula. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Keep refrigerated.
Substitutes
- You may substitute cornstarch for the Instant Clearjel. If you do so, you will need to cook the sauce to thicken it. Cornstarch requires cooking to thicken; Instant Clearjel thickens without cooking. (Original Clearjel thickens when cooked.)
- You may substitute vanilla pudding for the Bavarian Cream.
Recommended Equipment
- Silicone springform pans. Graham cracker crumb crusts are fragile. Silicone is very nonstick and flexible. When you are ready to serve, simply peel the silicone ring from the dessert. It’s nice to be able to cut and serve from the glass base. We have a number of glass-base springform pans.