Chocolate Covered Almond Swirl Cheesecake

This is a re-mix of a an old standby cheesecake recipe. I use Penzey's real almond extract for maximum almond flavor. I have found this recipe works best in an 8 or 8 1/2 inch springform pan. Anything larger is too big.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (Fahrenheit of course)

Chocolate Mixture:

Combine

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup of sugar

Heat until chocolate is melted and set aside. I do this in the microwave.

Crust:

1 & 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup of melted butter

2 Tbsps of sugar

Mix together and press firmly into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a springform pan.

Batter:

2 8oz packages of cream cheese softened. (I use neufeutchel cheese which is lower in calories)

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of sour cream ( I use Breakstone's light sour cream. Just as rich as regular sour cream)

1 tsp. of almond extract

4 eggs

Beat cream cheese until light and creamy. Gradually beat in sugar (I do 1/4 cup at at time). Mix in sour cream and almond extract. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Divide batter in half. (I never measure so this is never exactly half for me. Just do the best you can.) Stir the Chocolate Mixture into half the batter. Pour the chocolate batter into the crust and then pour the regular half of the batter over the chocolate batter. Swirl with a butter knife by carefully thrusting it into the batter and moving it slow swirls. Bake for 50 minutes or until only a 2 to 3 inch circle in the center moves. Cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Take a knife and loosen the edges and then cool for one hour.

Topping:

1/4 cup (or so) of slivered almonds

Toast almonds in the oven. Turn oven up to 425 degrees and place almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Toast for about 4 or 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them they burn quickly. Remove them from the baking sheet immediately or they will continue cooking. Set aside.

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 Tbsps of butter

1/2 tsp of almond extract

Melt together butter and chocolate chips in microwave and then stir in almond extract.

Pour chocolate mixture over the cheesecake that has cooled for an hour and then sprinkle with toasted almonds. Refrigerate overnight. If you let the cheesecake warm up a bit before cutting, it will be easier to serve.