WATERBAR’S decadent GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
Perched on San Francisco’s waterfront, Waterbar is known for its bay views and stellar seafood, but its decadent desserts are every bit as irresistible. That’s thanks to pastry chef Erica Land, who has spent this summer serving up sticky toffee puddings with maple caramel, Meyer lemon-cucumber sorbet and a swoon-worthy German chocolate cheesecake. The latter delivers all the signature flavors of the classic, but in cool cheesecake form.
The finished cheesecake looks ridiculously impressive, but the recipe actually consists of three easy steps: a chocolate cookie crust, a coconut-pecan filling and a cheesecake batter. Land gilds the lily with fresh cherries and a drizzled red-wine reduction — 1 bottle of red wine and 3 cups sugar simmered to a syrupy consistency — but that’s optional.
Of course, restaurant pastry chefs have access to commercial baking pans and equipment, such as Robot Coupe food processors, that home cooks don’t generally have. (We’ve substituted an electric stand mixer for the Robot Coupe in the recipe.) Use this recipe as a general guide, not strict instructions, and expect to have some leftover ingredients. Line your baking pan with just enough of the chocolate cookie-crumb mixture, for example, to form a crust. Add just enough coconut-pecan filling to form a delicious layer, reserving the rest to garnish the cake (and to serve over sundaes later).
Another note: The recipe calls for a halfsheet pan, an 18-by-13-inch baking pan, baked in a bain-marie. That’s simply a water bath: The cheesecake pan is placed inside a larger pan filled with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the smaller pan. It creates a gentle, even heat around custardtype dishes and helps prevent the cracks one often finds in cheesecakes.
Unless you have a very large oven and a super-sized roasting pan to serve as the bainmarie, we suggest that you use two 9-by-13inch pans, or divide the recipe and use just one. Or skip the bain-marie altogether — it can be our little secret — and rely on the coconut-pecan garnish to hide any imperfections.
Pastry chef Erica Land shares the secrets behind her dessert, served with a coconutpecan topping and cookie crust
Here’s how the Waterbar cake is made:
German Chocolate Cheesecake
18 ounces chocolate cookie crumbs
1 tablespoon salt Melted butter
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix cookie crumbs, salt and just enough melted butter to hold the crumbs together. Mix thoroughly. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom and sides of the prepared pan and bake for 5 minutes. Let cool. Leave oven on.
Coconut Pecan Filling: 8 egg yolks
3 cups evaporated milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 3 cups brown sugar 12 ounces butter
6 cups flaked coconut 4 cups pecans, toasted and chopped
DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, combine the egg yolks, milk, vanilla, sugar and and butter. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is slightly caramelized and very thick, remove it from the heat. Cool slightly and then, if the mixture is lumpy, use a hand-held blender to burr the mixture until smooth. Fold in the coconut and toasted pecans. Spread a smooth layer of the filling over the cooled crust. Reserve the rest to garnish.
Cheesecake Batter:
8 ounces milk chocolate 32 ounces cream cheese slices, room temperature 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1½ cups sugar
4 eggs plus 4 egg yolks
DIRECTIONS
Place a metal bowl over, but not touching, barely simmering water. Place the chocolate in the bowl and melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
Using a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, cornstarch and sugar. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time. Stop and scrape the bowl with a spatula.
Add melted chocolate and blend until smooth. Pour the batter over the coconut-pecan filling in a thin layer. Place the pan in a bain-marie and bake at 325 degrees until it jiggles only slightly in the center, 25 to 30 minutes. (If you are using a smaller pan, start checking for doneness earlier.)
Cool completely before cutting. Serve slices topped with more of the coconut-pecan filling, fresh pitted cherries and additional toasted pecans
— Erica Land, Waterbar