Chocolate Malt Cheesecake...Happy Birthday to my Husband

Yesterday was the husband's birthday. He didn't want a party, but I did arrange for dinner with some friends at a favorite local restaurant. After a birthday toast and a great meal, we headed on over to our house for dessert. A few posts ago, I talked about chocolate malt cupcakes. This time I made a chocolate malt cheesecake. It was easy, rich and had the wow factor! I baked this the night before so it had plenty of time to cool and live in the fridge to set up nicely. A few hours before dinner, I crushed some malted milk balls and liberally sprinkled them on top. Then I melted some chocolate chips and drizzed a basket weave pattern on top of the crushed candy.

YUM! So that and a platter of grapes, blackberries, strawberries and fragrant coffee topped off our evening. We laughed and talked...mostly about our grandkids. It was a fun night. Happy Birthday, honey!!

CHOCOLATE MALT CHEESECAKE

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

3 Pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese (1/3 less fat is fine)

1 can (14 oz)sweetened condensed milk

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chocolate malted milk powder

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine crust ingredients; pat firmly in bottom and about 1/2-in up the side of an ungreased 9-inch springform pan; chill. Combine chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in top of double boiler over boiling water. Stir occasionally until melted. Let cool.

To make the filling, beat cheese until fluffy; add eggs and malted milk powder and blend well. Blend in melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 300 degrees for about 65 minutes or until filling shakes only slightly near the center when moved. Cool, chill thoroughly.

Garnish with chocolate curls or crushed malted milk balls or drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.