Categories: Cheesecakes, Usenet 
      Yield: 16 servings 
  
-----------------------------------CRUST----------------------------------- 
      7 oz Amaretti (see note) 
      2 T  Granulated sugar 
      5 T  Sweet butter 
      1 oz Chocolate, unsweetened 
           -(1 square) 
 
----------------------------------FILLING---------------------------------- 
      6 oz Chocolate, semisweet 
      7 oz Amaretti 
      4 oz Almond paste 
    1/3 c  Amaretto liqueur 
    1/4 c  Sugar, granulated 
  1 1/2 lb Cream cheese 
           -(room temperature) 
      4 lg Eggs 
    1/2 c  Heavy cream 
  
  MAKE CRUST:  Butter the sides only (not the bottom) of a 9-inch spring-form 
  pan (about 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep).  Grind the Amaretti very fine in a food 
  processor or blender.  Mix with sugar in a mixing bowl. 
   
  Melt the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, stirring 
  occasionally.  Add the melted mixture to the Amaretti crumbs and sugar and 
  mix thoroughly. (Don't wash the double boiler; you'll be using it again in 
  a minute.) 
   
  Turn the mixture into the prepared pan.  With your fingers, distribute it 
  evenly over the bottom and press it down into a very firm, compact layer. 
  Refrigerate while you prepare the filling. 
   
  MAKE FILLING:  Adjust rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven and preheat 
  to 350 degrees F. Partially melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler, 
  then uncover and stir until completely melted. Remove the top of the double 
  boiler and set aside to cool. 
   
  Break the Amaretti coarsely into a bowl and set aside.  Cut the almond 
  paste into small pieces, and beat on low speed with an electric mixer, 
  while gradually adding the Amaretto liqueur. Beat until thoroughly mixed 
  and set aside. 
   
  Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the sugar 
  and beat until smooth again. Add the almond paste-Amaretto mixture and beat 
  until thoroughly mixed. Add the melted chocolate and beat well again. Add 
  the eggs one at a time, beating at low speed until they are incorporated 
  after each addition. Add the heavy cream and beat until smooth. Add the 
  coarsely broken Amaretti and stir gently only to mix. 
   
  Turn into the prepared pan, pouring the mixture over the bottom crust. 
  Rotate the pan gently to level the batter. (Don't worry if the mixture 
  comes almost to the top; it won't run over.) 
   
  Bake 45 minutes.  It will seem soft and not done, but don't bake any more; 
  it will become firm when chilled. The top of the cake is supposed to look 
  bumpy because of the large chunks of Amaretti. Let cool completely at room 
  temperature, then carefully remove the sides of the pan and refrigerate the 
  cake (still on the bottom of the pan) for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. 
   
  NOTES: 
   
  *  This is adapted from Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Chocolate Desserts," 
  (Knopf 1980).  It won me a blue ribbon at the Martha's Vineyard 
  Agricultural Exhibition and Fair in 1983. If you ever find yourself in 
  front of a firing squad, this makes an unbeatable last request. 
   
  *  Amaretti are Italian almond-flavored wafer cookies.  They are usually 
  sold in metal tins with the wafers wrapped in packages of two inside the 
  tin. You can also buy Amarettini, which are the same flavor but much 
  smaller and not individually wrapped. Since you're going to grind some of 
  the wafers and break the others into chunks, it doesn't matter which size 
  you start with. One brand is Amaretti di Saronna, Lazzaroni & Co. 
   
  *  This is an expensive cake, both in terms of the cost of the ingredients 
  ($15-$20) and the number of calories. 
   
  : Difficulty:  moderate to hard. 
  : Time:  30 minutes preparation, 45 minutes baking, overnight cooling. 
  : Precision:  measure ingredients carefully. 
   
  : Jan Wolitzky 
  : AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA 
  : ihnp4!mhuxd!wolit 
   
  : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust