Chocolate Velvet Dessert

We are officially in the throes of birthday season.

All five of our children were born between September and November.  Three of them in October.

While mostly that was actually intentional......passing down clothes and all that.....it makes for a really busy fall.  (Like especially two years ago when I gave birth on October 9, Grant had ankle reconstruction surgery to repair 3 torn ligaments on October 11, and we had birthdays to celebrate on October 20 and 28.  Yeah. Fun times.)

We just celebrated our middle child's birthday - she turned 6 - this past weekend.  While it was a lot of fun to plan and execute, I'm glad it's over and everything went well.

One down, four to go. And then it's Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

So before all the party festivities began, we took the previous two weekends to have people over for dinner - lovely families from church that we had been meaning to invite over for months and just hadn't made it happen. One of the weekends, I made these cookies, which makes such a large batch that we had plenty for both evenings we had guests. (and I was reminded again just how much I love those cookies.)
For the next weekend, I wanted to make a new dessert. When I was deliberating what exactly that should be,  pouring through my pinterest board and foodgawker favorites, nothing was striking my fancy.

I know....how is that even possible with 300 different options?

But then I remembered this dessert.

I had made it years ago for a special night with some friends in Virginia.....and we had all loved it.  I had been meaning to make it again and somehow just never got around to it.  Silly me.  It certainly deserves to be made more often than every 5 years.

So here's the breakdown.  A slightly crunchy and buttery Oreo crust, a rich, creamy filling made with melted chocolate, egg yolks, and heavy cream, and a sweet chocolate buttercream frosting.
It looks similar to a cheesecake - but it has such a smooth - and yes - velvety texture.  It positively melts in your mouth.  It's almost like eating a slice of chocolate truffle.  
 
To say that it's decadent would be an understatement.
And you really have to love chocolate to appreciate this treat.
Thankfully, everyone in my family (and our guests) fell into that category.


Chocolate Velvet Dessert
adapted slightly from Taste of Home

1-1/2 cups chocolate cookie or Oreo crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
6 egg yolks
1-3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder (or 3 T. regular cocoa powder)
3-4 Tbsp. whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter well.  Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan.  Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth.  Cool.  In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, cream, and vanilla.  Gradually stir a small amount of mixture into melted chocolate until blended; gradually stir in remaining mixture.  If it clumps up, don't worry - just keep whisking briskly until it smooths out.  Pour into crust.

3. Place pan on baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.  Refrigerate overnight.

4. In a large bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, sifted cocoa, and enough milk to achieve a piping consistency.  Using a large star tip, pipe frosting on dessert.