death by cheesecake

This is a to die for cheesecake recipe given to me by a friend years and years ago. This was my first recipe used to make cheesecake and the chocolate chips just melt right in.

Chocolate Rum Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients:
¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

¾ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 lbs Kraft room-temperature cream cheese**

1½ cups sugar

5 eggs

¼ cup of dark rum

2 teaspoons of rum extract

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

1 - 12 oz bag of mini Ghirardelli or other choc chips


Directions:
Set oven at 200°F. Spray a 9 inch cheescake springform pan with shortening spray. Dust with the ¼ cup of Dutch cocoa and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl:
Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth and soft, scraping sides of bowl. Mix in all remaining ingredients except for chocolate chips. Mix well. (If cream cheese is not room temperature you will have little tiny balls of white cream cheese flecks in your cheesecake.....experience talking here)

Stir in mini chocolate chips and pour into prepared cheesecake pan.

Bake for 7 to 8 hours overnight. (yes, overnight!!)

Cool on rack. When at room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and place an upside down plate on top and invert. Remove the springform pan and refridgerate. After about an hour you can serve by placing another inverted serving plate on top. Flip over and peel off plastic wrap.

Storage and serving:
Cover and refridgerate. Serve using a warm knife dipped in water. Serves about 20.

**generic cream cheese not recommended..it doesn't taste very good.