Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Philidelphia Cream Cheese Brick, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cake rusk biscuit
• 1/4 cup ghee, melted
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, solid & chopped, room temperature
• 1 whole red chili
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream, room temperature

Directions

1. Put out chocolate, eggs, cream cheese, ghee & heavy/whipping cream to cool to room temperature.
2. Make chocolate ganache: Chop dark chocolate until finely chopped; set in a medium-sized bowl. Meanwhile, boil cream with whole chili (sliced halfway up to let flavours combine) and whole cinnamon stick (cracked in half for the same reason). When boiled, strain and pour cream immediately on top of chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes, then mix thoroughly.
3. Make garam masala chai: Use an Orange Pekoe teabag and 1 teaspoon of chai mix with 1/4 cup of water. Let brew and strain, while pouring into cup. Set cup in freezer for 7-10 minutes, until ice-cold. Take out for use in cheesecake.
4. While chai is brewing, put biscuit in blender and pulse until crumb-like. Melt butter, and mix with crumbs. Mix 1 teaspoon of chocolate ganache with biscuit crumb mixture. Press crumb mixture onto the bottoms of 2 muffin/cupcake wrappers while they are in the muffin/cupcake pan. Turn on oven to warm to 350°F/177°C..
5. Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a stand mixer on low-speed (on a scale of 2 out of 10), until fluffy.
6. Add 1 teaspoon of ice-cold garam masala chai, 2 teaspoons of chocolate ganache, and continue to mix at low-speed until combined. Put ganache in fridge until needed for garnish.
7. Add in one egg at a time, mixing until well-mixed at low-speed and no streaks are showing; then add the next one. Ensure that there are no lumps in the blend, and if there are, blend more thoroughly in a blender.
8. Add chopped chocolate to mixture and mix with spatula until combined. Add salt to mixture to taste (it's only used to bring out flavours).
9. Add a cup of boiling water to one muffin/cupcake tin in the muffin/cupcake pan [this is somewhat like a water bath].
10. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the crust and bake for 10-20 minutes, until bubbles start to form on surface. Repeatedly check the cheesecake once you hit the 10 minute mark, to ensure it doesn't crack.
11. Take the pan out of the oven and let cakes rest for 5 mins. Do not try to flatten bubbles as they will look better untouched (believe me!).
12. After resting for 5 minutes, gently use the cupcake/muffin wrapper to lift the cheesecake out of the pan. Put it in a smaller, aluminum foil muffin/cupcake tin or a similar cupcake-sized bowl to help keep its shape.
13. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 2 hours, until firm and more dense in the middle. 4 hours is the best amount of time to refrigerate the cheesecake.
14. To serve & garnish: warm up the chocolate ganache and put it in a bowl large enough so you can dip the cheesecake in it. After carefully peeling off the muffin/cupcake wrapper, dip the cheesecake in the chocolate mixture and lift it back up with a spoon. Immediately set on serving plate. Take remaining chopped chocolate and melt. Using a mint leaf (or another strongly-veined leaf), spread melted chocolate onto the back of the leaf. Let harden (it's faster in the fridge), and gently hold it. Working quickly, stick it stem-side down in the middle of the cheesecake, at a pretty angle. Serve immediately, and enjoy! :)