This week I opted for an archive recipe because there was no money in our budget to buy a butane torch. And the directions for carmelizing under the broiler scared me a little. I decided on a recipe I had actually made before. There are very few recipes I have not made from weeks past. And this one has been one of my favs. The actual recipe is Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte. I love it so because it does not need a water bath and comes out as perfect as any cheesecake I have ever made.
My inspiration for this twist on Dorie’s version comes from my very favorite ice cream flavor. Chubby Hubby by the geniuses at Ben and Jerry’s. The idea came to me sometime this summer. I had been wanting to make a Chubby Hubby cupcake, but couldnt figure out how to get the pretzel portion into a cupcake. While reading Southern Living, I came upon a recipe for a pretzel crust. BINGO! A pretzel crust, topped with a peanut butter layer, then a semi sweet chocolate ganache and topped with cheesecake.
Chubby Hubby Cheesecake
The recipe for the torte can be found here.
The recipe for the pretzel crust click here.
For the peanut butter layer, I used my kitchen aide to blend 1/3 peanut butter, 2 TB cream cheese and 1/3 cup powdered sugar together until smooth.
For the semi sweet chocolate ganache, I used 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 2 TB heavy cream. I heated the chips in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds. I also heated the cream and then stirred it into the chips until smooth.
After the crust has cooled, spread the peanut butter layer on first, then pour the ganache on top of that and the cream cheese mixturre on top of the chocolate layer.
I know I am giving these directions kind of haphazardly, so if you want to make this and have questions, just ask!
slush 
Holy yum batman! T was looking over my shoulder and saw your peanut butter-y concoction. His exact words and I quote “Make me that.” HAHA. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
I cannot wait to try that! It looks amazing, so rich and smooth!
Great choice to skip the crème! Well done
That sounds delicious! Chubby Hubby is my favorite ice cream flavor!
WOW – your blog should’ve had a warning in my Google Reader to prepare me. It’s not even 7am and I open your post and my heart stops with that photo. Man, gimme some.
Holy cow that sounds good! My mom used to make a dessert growing up with a pretzel crust…I think strawberries and a sweetened cream cheese/whipped cream was involved too. I will have to try this combo sometime soon!
Ok. That’s it.
I am packing up and moving in with you.
That is one awesome cake!!
This is a true inspiration of creativity. Looks absolutely delicious Laurie!!!
What? That looks SO good. That’s my fave Ben & Jerry’s flavor, too. I’ll trade you all of my creme brulees for one slice of your cheesecake!
Wow, that sounds fabulous. Great rewind, and what wonderful creativity.
ooh genius!!! this looks sooo good. i love salty/sweet, so i am definitely going to have to give this a try!
This looks absolutely gorgeous and it sounds *delicious*!
Wow- that looks wonderful! I love the new cupcake hero logo too. 🙂
Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t have anything on you, Laurie! Fabulous!
Oh yummm! Another great recipe for me to try. I made the snicker bars this time and really liked them . Im excited for the next recipe too…Brownie cake..sounds amazing!
this is one of the few recipes I havent made, so I must try it! I love the sound of your rendition!!
Yum! That sounds wonderful! I may have to try that!
I want a bite of that! Nice twist with the pretzel crust.
YOWZA! That is one heck of a combination. Great idea!
I’ve never had the ice cream, but I’ll say that your torte looks astoundly delicious! Very creative adaptation of the recipe. I came very close to doing a rewind and this was on my short list (well, the berry version, obv). It turns out the broiler was not all that bad, but I did approach it with some trepidation. Thanks for all you do, btw.
OK, let’s make that “astoundingly delicious”, shall we?
Ooh, that looks and sounds delicious! The cream cheese torte is at the top of my list of past TWD recipes that I want to make. I planned to make it this week, but just couldn’t get it done. But soon… =)
Hot damn, this looks spectacular! Almost makes me wish that I’d omitted the creme brulee (which was good, but easy and didn’t taste much different from store bought) in favor of something a little more challenging and multi-layered.
My hubby would love this! Great idea!! Looks fantastic too!
Wow! This looks awesome! I’ll have to try this very very soon.
OMG!!! I want to eat that NOW!!! I am about to go on a cheesecake rampage!
I will definitely have to try this Dorie recipe soon. I have so many to catch up on.
Omg. that looks so good…Trader Joes has these honey pretzel sticks that are a tiny bit sweet, I think they would work well as a crust. Yum!
Yes, I’ll be having one of those, thank you.
That looks sooooooooo good! I a big fan of creme brulee but you might have something here! My Honey would like this as he like peanut butter goodness in his desserts and he digs pretzel! Now that I think about it I don’t think there is anything about it wouldn’t love!
~ingrid
wow!!! chubby hubby is my absolute fav B&J’s ice cream flavor…and you made it into a cheesecake…yum!!!
This sound so amazing! I can’t wait to try it. Do you bake it in the same way as the other cheesecake? The time and temp would be helpful. THANKS!!!
Mmm, chubby hubby cheesecake! Wow, I love C.H. (Ben & Jerry are geniuses in my opinion) AND cheesecake. This sounds like a winner. Nice pics!
What a brilliant idea! This looks fabulous!
freakin’eh, that sounds good!!
That sounds really good! I love experimenting with cheesecake because it pretty up always turns out good. Our last experiment was a cream cheese blueberry pie- so good!
Oh, wow! That is so creative! I would love to have a huge slice, right now! 🙂
Goodness, this sounds amazing, particularly with the pretzel crust.
Oh my gosh! That sounds amazing. Yum!
You have come up with a rather brilliant concoction! Lori, I wanted to say thank you for all the work you put into the TWD community and I gave you an award you can pick up on my blog. Thank you!
I made this for my brother’s birthday with weekend. Him and the wife really enjoyed. I then brought the leftovers to work and they loved it too! They were all intrigued with the idea of a pretzel crust.
Thanks for sharing!
That looks unbelievably delicious. I like Chubby Hubby, too…
This looks absolutely divine!