Chocolate Red Bean Paste Cheesecake Recipe

Author:

Ryan Thomas is a university student who enjoys cooking recipes from a wide variety of culinary traditions.

Red bean paste is a flavor that is difficult to pin down at first, perhaps because it is so hauntingly familiar and yet at the same time so very different. It has a certain richness about it that is both incredibly sweet and adaptable.

I have decided, after much consideration, that what it can be most easily compared to is chocolate—but it has more of an almost earthiness as compared to chocolate, and it lacks some of chocolate's upper notes. Instead, it has a richer and yet also more piercing, ever so slightly fruity, taste to it.

If you combine red bean paste with chocolate, the resulting hybrid surpasses either one on its own, and that's exactly what has been done in this recipe. The end result is richer and more decadent than the two on their own. The texture is more cake-like than that of a traditional cheesecake, although there are suggestions in this for attaining a more traditional cheesecake texture, but for me this was no barrier to enjoyment of this delicious dessert.

This recipe is entirely my own.

Ingredients

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
12 ounces cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound red bean paste
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter
8 ounces graham crackers

Photo Guide

chocolate-red-bean-paste-cheesecake-recipe

Instructions

Make the graham cracker crust: Crumble the graham crackers into the bottom of a springform pan, and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. This will help form a good crust, but be careful not to let it burn.
Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan using a double boiler, then add in the chocolate and the red bean paste, and melt together to form a smooth mixture. Add in the heavy cream and mix.
Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth in a mixing bowl, and add in the vanilla. Then add in the chocolate-red bean paste mixture, and beat until combined.
Beat together the eggs and the sugar. Beat this slowly into the chocolate mixture, and stir to mix.
Pour this resulting batter into the springform pan, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F, with an aluminum foil covering to prevent the top from burning or any cracking happening. Cool and chill thoroughly then unmold it from the side. Serving with whipped cream or vanilla is always a good idea.