Since 1926, the Agricultural Review has been a free newspaper published by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. For many years, The Tar Heel Kitchen was a featured column written by the department’s marketing home economist. These recipes tended to be seasonal with just a handful of ingredients. We thought these recipes needed to be shared in a new format. The Tar Heel Kitchen post will unearth a few of these timeless recipes each month. This week we are revisiting the July 1, 1983 issue and a baked chocolate cheesecake that highlights delicious and nutritious N.C. dairy products.
June is N.C. Dairy Month, what better way to celebrate than with a chocolate cheesecake recipe that features three dairy products. “There is no doubt that milk products are essential to our general health but are also important to our state’s economic welfare,” said Cynthia Higgins, former NCDA&CS home economist. Today, North Carolina has 221 family-owned and operated dairies and 47,000 dairy cows. The state produces 114.4 million gallons of milk which provides more than $1 billion in economic impact.
“Our hats off to the dairy industry,” Higgins added. “The North Carolina Department of Agriculture invites you to enjoy using dairy products in the following recipe.”
In our experience, chocolate wafers were hard to find, so a good substitute would be chocolate graham crackers.
Baked Chocolate Cheesecake – July 1st, 1983
- 1 package (8 ounce) chocolate wafers, coarsely crushed
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate pieces, melted
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup dairy sour cream
Butter the sides of a nine-inch spring form pan. Combine wafer crumbs and butter. Press firmly on bottom and sides of pan. Set aside. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and almond extracts, salt and sugar. Beat until smooth. Blend in cooled, melted chocolate. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl and beating well after each. Stir in sour cream. Spoon into crumb crust. Set cake on lower rack in preheated 350-degree oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from pan. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls, if desired. Makes 16 to 20 servings.