Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 300°. Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press mixture on bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Microwave chocolate and cream at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring at 30-second intervals.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 2 minutes or until smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, beating just until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Add chocolate mixture, beating just until blended. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or just until center is set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven with door closed 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours.

Make Chocolate Ganache: Bring cream to a light boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Process chocolate bars in a food processor until coarsely chopped. With processor running, pour cream through food chute in a slow, steady stream, processing until smooth. Let mixture cool until slightly warm (about 20 minutes).

Remove sides of pan, and place cheesecake on a serving plate. Slowly pour warm Ganache Topping over cheesecake, spreading to edges. Chill 1 hour before serving. Garnish, if desired.