by Jilly Warner (Arizona)

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cake:

24 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs
Fresh whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients for crust; spread onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly crispy.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. While crust cools, mix cream cheese, sugar and the extracts until well blended. Add eggs; blend until well mixed. Slowly pour chocolate into batter and mix until color is smooth. Pour batter into springform pan and make sure to smooth out top. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 250 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes longer. When done, remove edge from rim of springform pan and cool. Serve with fresh whipped cream and chocolate garnishes.