This creamy Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake with layers of chocolate and vanilla swirled to make a beautiful marbled appearance is the best cheesecake ever! Is that saying too much? Because I don’t suppose I’ve tried every recipe there is out there, but it certainly is the best that I’ve ever tried. (And you better believe I always try every slice I come across. I consider it my duty. So I’m not out there spreading false advertising about my recipe all willy-nilly.)

Yes, I’ve been hard-pressed to find a better cheesecake than this creamy Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake I’m sharing with you, right here, right now! Though I hate to say it’s true, it’s even better than my Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake recipe! (Though the Pumpkin Swirl is very close second.)

In fact, this cheesecake is so amazing that it took my cheesecake-hating husband and turned him into a cheesecake lover! How’s that for a testimony? And, in my experience, it’s not so easy to convert someone with a prejudice against foods that last over several decades!

Bill will even find ways to make it so I have to make cheesecake for dessert. Not only has he shocked us with asking for Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake instead of his all-time favorite Apple Pie for his birthday, but the last time we visited family he made the plans. All I knew was that when I was supposed to show up. And that I was to have cheesecake in hand. It turns out the whole dessert contribution was totally his idea.

Turn Your Homesteading Skills into Dessert

One of the many homesteading skills you can learn no matter where you live today is cheesemaking. You don’t need let your lack of cow or goat (or sheep or donkey) ownership hold you back. You simply need the ingredients to prepare simple cheeses. Delicious cheeses like homemade cream cheese.

Sure. There are lots of things you can prepare with homemade cream cheese. But I’ve yet to find a better way to use cream cheese than in a cheesecake.

Before baking Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake, or any cheesecake really, you should check out my tips for making sure yours turns out amazing! These steps will help you make sure it turns out beautifully silky smooth, rich and ultra-creamy!

Creamy Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

Creamy Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

This Creamy Chocolate Swirl cheesecake with layers of chocolate and vanilla swirled to make a beautiful marbled appearance is the best cheesecake ever!

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

2 ¼ cups graham crackers, crushed
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Cream Cheese Filling

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, melted
24 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature (You can learn to make cream cheese here.)
¾ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature (You can learn to make sour cream here.)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F.
Prepare the crust by crushing the graham crackers and mixing in the melted butter.
Press the graham cracker mix onto the bottom of a 9" springform pan to form the crust.
Waterproof the springform pan by wrapping it in 3 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. Wrap the foil up and over the rim of the pan.
Repeat wrapping the foil until you have all 3 layers up over the rim of the pan and neatly crimped just to the inside. This step is critical to making a creamy cheesecake by cooking it in a waterbath and keeping that water from leaking in and making a soggy crust.
Melt the chocolate in a small pan or skillet over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted and then remove it from the heat.
In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch together until it is whipped and perfectly smooth.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and whip it again until smooth.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed to fully incorporate it before the next egg addition.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat it once again.
Then mix in the sour cream & vanilla until it's smooth.
Stir 3 cups of the cream cheese mixture into the cooled chocolate until it is fully incorporated.
To swirl the cheesecake you can either dollop black & white batter into crust and marble by swirling through a knife. OR you can carefully add the chocolate mix back into the bowl with the vanilla batter and stir it just until it's swirled. Then carefully scrape it into the pan.
Swirl the top of the cheesecake by drawing a knife back and forth with the knife one way and then back and forth perpendicular to the first direction.
Set the pan into a roasting pan and carefully pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up side of springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake for 70 minutes until it is set. (Give it a very gentle giggle and watch the center for movement.)
Turn off oven and open the door until it has cooled to room temperature.
Carefully remove the foil and draw a knife around the outside of pan to loosen the cheesecake. (Just removing the sides can cause cracks if it sticks.)
Refrigerate the Chocolate-Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake for at least 6 hours.
This cheesecake also freezes beautifully. If fact, I think it may even be better after freezing so if I have time I will freeze it overnight instead of refrigerating and set it out to thaw in the morning.