Using 4 packages of cream cheese was a chore in itself, trying to get all the lumps out, but finally did. I put it in a water bath, cooked according to directions, did everything right. When I took it out of the springform pan it had fallen on one side, the coloring was strange, and it was BLAND! There was NO FLAVOR. I had made this for my husband's family, and was trying to impress them. My brother-in-law who can eat a whole cheesecake only ate half the piece. I knew then I would never make this again. Too much work for so little. Don't waste your time with this one!

I made this recipe a week ago and plan to repeat it tonight for Thanksgiving. I omitted the chocolate (I wanted a pure cheesecake). I used my KA stand mixer and it worked out the lumps beautifully. I had also brought the cream cheese to room temperature before mixing to aid the process. I also used roughly a quarter more graham crackers and walnuts for the crust and brought it half way up the sides (we love crust). I placed another pan with water in the oven for steam and baked for the minimum amount of time. My cheesecake doubled in size and did crack quite a lot. The top was browned (just a little too much on the edges) and sorta dried out the first little layer of cake. After the refrigeration period, you couldn't tell there were any cracks. I give it 5 stars because I know if I bake it for 5 minutes less, it'll be perfect. Tonight, I plan on adding a small amount of orange zest to the mixture, drizzling chocolate around the outside edges, and creating a centerpiece of partially covered chocolate orange slices. Yumm. Also, this recipe is for CHEESEcake lovers. It's very cheesy and not very sweet. It's also very dense, not light and fluffy.

I thought this recipe was great! I wonder if that first person who commented might have mistakenly used evaporated milk instead of sweet & condensed milk? Anyway, I made this for a party, and wowed everyone with it! It was beautiful and it tasted great! It is not quite as sweet as a normal new york cheesecake, I think because of the semi-sweet chocolate in it, but it was really good that way,because sometimes cheesecakes can be a little too sweet. I garnished it with 4 chocolate covered strawberries in the center, them put whip cream swirls all around the edges, and stuck several chocolate shavings in each whip cream swirl. It was beatiful and so yummy!

A truly New York style cheesecake. It has a dense cheese flavor with a mild chocolate flavor. No need to bake it in a water bath just follow the directions. I made and found it easy to prepare and bake.

One of the smoother cheesecakes I made probably due to the condensed milk. I brought it over my in laws and everyone loved how it looked, even with the crack in the middle. I added some flour but perhaps I'll try it with cornstarch to prevent the crack. It wasn't too sweet which was good, I like the texture alot vs the other ny style cheesecake, this is not dense at all. You won't be disappointed with this.

First cheesecake I've ever made so it wasn't real pretty, but tastes AMAZING!!!!