M and M’s Cheesecake

M and M cheesecake has a creamy, dense filling that's studded with m&ms candy, covered with a decadently rich ganache, and sprinkled with even more m&ms. It's colorful and fun but most of all it's delicious.

Course Dessert - Cake

Cuisine American - Southern

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 50

Chill 8

Total Time 9 15

Servings servingss

Calories 710kcal

Author Marye Audet-White

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups graham crackers crushed
⅓ cup butter melted

Cheesecake

32 ounces cream cheese room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
6 eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup m&ms candy
16 ounces Daisy sour cream (see note below), room temperature

Ganache

1 cup heavy cream
12 oz milk or semi-sweet chocolate
½ cup m&ms

Instructions

Crust

Mix the cookie crumbs and butter and then press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" springform pan.
Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes.
Set aside.
When cool cover the outside of the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure it is at least ¾ of the way up the pan

Cheesecake

Beat cream cheese and sugar at slowest speed until it is mixed well. Do not whip it - air will get in the batter and it will lose its dense texture.
Add eggs one at a time, slowly mixing in for about 2 minutes after each addition.
Fold in vanilla, 1 cup of the M&Ms, and sour cream by hand.
Pour a layer of the batter into a prepared crumb crust in the springform pan. Make sure the foil is still securely around the pan.
Put the cheesecake pan in a 12" cake pan with high sides and put into a 375F oven.
Pour hot water into the 12" pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan - don't let it go over the top of the aluminum foil!
Bake for 45 minutes.
Turn off oven and let set for one hour. Do not open the door!
Remove cake from oven, take off foil, and let come to room temperature.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Placing paper towel on top of cake will soak up any condensation
Just before serving run a knife around cake and remove from pan.
Pour the ganache over the top, smoothing and letting it drip down the sides as you go.
Garnish with the remaining ½ cup M&Ms.

Ganache

Heat the cream until bubbles form around the edge.
Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.

Notes

Never use low fat anything in this cheesecake. Also, I use Daisy sour cream because it doesn't have any added ingredients - a lot of brands have thickeners and other unnecessary ingredients. The recipe is high calorie as are all good cheesecakes but it isn't something you are going to eat every day either.

Expert Tip: Fold a piece of paper towel over the top of the finished cheesecake before covering and putting it in the refrigerator. It will soak up any condensation that might form.

Always use full fat ingredients.
Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature.
Never whip your cream cheese mixture - you don't want excess air in the batter.
It's done when the middle jiggles just slightly and the edges are puffed up.
Make the m and m cheesecake a day or two ahead of time. It needs time in the refrigerator to mellow.
Use a chocolate crumb crust instead of graham crackers for a more chocolatey flavor.

Nutrition