INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

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  From
Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 315
Calories From Fat: 221
Total Fat: 25.6g
Cholesterol: 104.1mg
Sodium: 159.7mg
Potassium: 130.7mg
Carbohydrates: 19.5g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugar: 8.7g
Protein: 5.7g