Gluten Free Death by Chocolate Cheesecake with Brownie Crust |

This Gluten Free Death by Chocolate Cheesecake with Brownie Crust is an easy and delicious way to satisfy even the most fervent chocoholics! It starts with a gluten free brownie crust, then creamy baked chocolate cheesecake, smothered in a rich chocolate ganache, and topped with your favourite chocolates! So get ready to drool and find out how to make a chocolate cheesecake from scratch that will really impress!

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“What’s your favourite dessert?” is always a question that stumps me! There’s so many  to choose from, how can I be expected to pick just one delicious dessert?! But, if I was forced, baked cheesecake would be a strong contender for my number 1 dessert! It’s creamy, and rich, and the flavour possibilities are endless – from the cheesecake, to the crust, to the cheesecake toppings, the world is your oyster in the land of baked cheesecakes. We all know that chocolate makes all desserts infinitely better, so I guess what I am trying to say is that this Gluten Free Death by Chocolate Cheesecake is really, really good idea.

Making a baked cheesecake from scratch is so much easier than you might imagine, and so worth the time – especially since most of that time is just waiting for it to bake and then chill, there’s not much hands on time at all. This chocolate cheesecake has all the indulgent trimmings too, with a from scratch brownie crust and a smooth ganache topping – and yet it’s still a really easy chocolate dessert that everyone is going to fall madly in love with.

More cheesecake and brownie magic in these GF Blackberry Cheesecake Brownies

Not only is making a baked chocolate cheesecake from scratch so easy, once you have the base recipe down you can adapt it so easily for different flavours. I have one base cheesecake recipe that I work from, and make yummy additions as needed. The cheesecake also works off a basic formula, so it is really easy to scale up and down to create bigger or smaller cheesecakes (who would ever want a smaller cheesecake I do not know!). The ratio I work to for a baked cheesecake is for each 250g (9oz) portion of cream cheese I use 50g (1/4 cup) sugar and 1 large egg – then just double that as needed. Because I love a cheesecake, I usually go for a large one so do it x4 that ratio – either in an 8” tin for a thick cheesecake or a 10” for a slightly thinner cheesecake. I will usually add in some liquid too, such as greek yogurt, cream, or sour cream. Sometimes, I’ll switch out 1/3-1/2 of the cream cheese for mascarpone – it adds such a creamy texture, it’s amazing! If I’m using mascarpone, I’ll usually leave out the extra liquid. This cheesecake wouldn’t be a chocolate cheesecake without, well, chocolate and all you have to do is add cooled melted chocolate into the batter – it’s really that simple!

The cheesecake crusts are just as versatile too, and you’re definitely not limited with choices even when you’re gluten free like me! This easy chocolate cheesecake recipe has a brownie crust, which is literally just my favourite fudgy brownie recipe scaled down and baked into a thin layer in the cake tin – the trick is to pre-bake it until the top is just set but it’s still very liquid inside, this takes a very short amount of time with such a thin layer. This way, it means you will still get a fudgy brownie at the bottom, but it won’t mix with the cheesecake – chocolate perfection in a slice of cheesecake.

I’ve called this a Death by Chocolate Cheesecake, so I obviously couldn’t stop with just a brownie crust and chocolate cheesecake. There’s the rich and smooth chocolate ganache spread on top – I love making chocolate ganache because it’s so easy and is just two ingredients (plus a little salt and vanilla), and it really adds an indulgence that will make you feel really fancy. To really take this Death by Chocolate Cheesecake over that chocolate hill, we’re also topping it with chopped up chocolate – there’s no rules on what you can use here, just pick your favourites. I went for a mixture of chopped chocolate bars (dark, milk, and white), plus magic stars and chopped up wispas, which I think are both very British exclusive chocolate treats. To give this gluten free chocolate cheesecake a more fancy bakery look, I also sprinkle some chocolate shavings/curls on top – you can buy these, or they’re really easy to do yourself with a block bar of chocolate and a vegetable peeler!

There is a lot that I love about this Gluten Free Death by Chocolate Cheesecake – it’s delicious, it’s easy, it’s full of as much chocolate as you could possibly want. But one of my favourite things about this chocolate cheesecake is how many servings it makes. It’s a 10” cheesecake so it’s pretty big to start with, but it is so rich and decadent that even the most dedicated chocoholic will struggle to eat more than one small slice at a time. Of course, I’d love to hear if you can prove me wrong though!

Let’s get baking!