Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake
Boozy, sinful and decadent Irish Cream Cheesecake loaded with Bailey’s Irish Cream, topped with thick layer of chocolate ganache and Oreo crust, will be great St. Patrick’s Day dessert.
OK, to be honest, I’m not a great fan of desserts with the taste of liquor and alcohol until I tried this great Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake which made me change my opinion.
Cheesecake was always my first choice when dessert for any occasion comes into consideration. If it was a cake or a mini version – cheesecake cupcakes, bake or no bake recipes, it is always my favorite. There is no cheesecake that I haven’t made multiple times: Reese’s, chocolate, Nutella, strawberry, pumpkin, peanut butter… but I always avoided Irish Cream.

Ingredients
For the crust:
  • 2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (use whole cookies with filling)
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For cheesecake filling:
  • 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese-softened
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup Baileys Irish cream
For Chocolate ganache:
  • 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 12 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate-chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix together Oreo crumbs and melted butter, press the mixture into 9” springform pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, set aside to cool.
  3. Once the crust is cooled, wrap pan with two layers of aluminum foil and bring the foil up the sides of the pan and make sure it is tight and secure so no water gets in during the baking process!!!!
  4. With electric mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth.
  5. Add cornstarch and continue to mix until fully incorporated, decrease the speed to low and add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla extract and Baileys.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan and place in a roasting pan, fill roasting pan about a quarter of the way with hot water and bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes, rotating once halfway through (until the cheesecake is set around the edges and slightly loose in the center)
  7. Remove springform pan from the water bath and set on a cooling rack to cool, then remove aluminum foil and refrigerate (at least 5 hour or overnight). When it’s completely cooled run a thin knife around the edge and take of the ring of springform pan..
  8. Over double boiler melt chopped chocolate until completely smooth and has no lumps, then stir in heavy whipping cream(from the fridge). It should be very thick and creamy so you could spread it on top the cake but also on sides without dripping. Use just 2/3 of the ganache and set the cake in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden the ganache. Take the cake from the freezer and reheat the rest of the ganache but this time it should be smooth (but not too thin) so you can pour it over the cake to make the smooth and shiny surface.
  9. To keep the shine of the ganache let it cool at room temperature then store the cake in the fridge.
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