Equipment Needed

• 8 “ springform pan
• Tin foil & Spray oil (avocado or olive)
• Baking dish large enough to fit the 8” springform pan inside
• Cutting board and Knife or Nut chopper
• Microwave safe bowl or Double boiler
• Stand mixer
• Spatula
• Piping Bag
• Kettle

Directions

Chocolate Almond Crust

• Heat the oven to 350°. Wrap the bottom of an 8" springform pan with heavy duty tin foil and spray the inside with spray oil. To read more about water baths and how to bake a perfect cheesecake, check out my Cheesecake Tips post.
• Melt butter in a medium sized, microwave safe mixing bowl or in a double boiler. Mince the whole almonds into a fine crumble and add to the melted butter along with the almond flour, sukrin gold, cinnamon, cocoa powder and sea salt. Mix well, then press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan using a fork or your hand.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.

Mocha Cheesecake

• Mix the instant coffee with brewed coffee in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl with the coconut oil. Melt at 40% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until the chocolate has fully melted. Set aside to cool. Alternately the chocolate and coconut oil can be melted using a double boiler.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and stir until all of the lumps are gone. Scrape the bowl, then stir again. Stir in the powdered sweetener, scrape the bowl, then mix in the sour cream and eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Do the same with the vanilla, then mix in the instant coffee / cold coffee mixture. Be sure to scrape all the way down to the bottom of the bowl in between each addition.
• Remove 1 cup coffee cheesecake batter. Stir the melted chocolate into the removed coffee batter to create mocha cheesecake batter! Pour the remaining coffee cheesecake batter into the prepared springform pan, overtop of the chocolate crust.
• Scrape the mocha cheesecake batter into a piping bag and squeeze out the entire contents into the coffee cheesecake, all over, in little dollops inside the cheesecake and on top, until all of the mocha cheesecake batter is used up.
• Take a knife or chopstick and swirl it back and forth through the blobs of mocha cheesecake batter, to create a beautiful swirl design, then place the cheesecake inside a baking dish and bring a kettle of water to boil.
• Pour boiling water inside the baking dish, until it comes about 1" up the side of the springform pan. Make sure it will not reach the lowest side of the tin foil - we don't want the water to get into the tin foil and sogg-y-fy the cheesecake!

Bake that beauty

• Place the entire baking pan with cheesecake inside the oven, in the center rack, and bake for about 45 minutes. The edges may start to crack and will be puffy, whereas the center will still look jiggly.
• Turn the oven off and place a wooden spoon in the door so that it is open just a crack. Leave the cheesecake inside the cracked oven for 1 hour, then remove and place on the counter so that it can cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for several hours to overnight for best results, then slice into 12 and ENJOY!