Chocolate Cheesecake Uncle Lewis

I spent a week in Charlottesville with my Uncle Lewis this summer. He gregariously introduced me to one of the Gearhart brothers from the chocolate shop of the same name, but he expressed his own skepticism about bon bons laced with ancho chiles. My uncle is a good home cook, but he prefers basic ingredients and recipes that call for a single bowl, pot, or pan. One of his favorites is a chocolate cheesecake recipe passed down from my Aunt Laura (really, my great aunt). He sent it to me and I made it last week. It had a few of the unanswered-question trappings of transcribed family recipes (how do you soften cream cheese?), but it was very well appreciated in Pittsburgh.

Recipe:
Chocolate Cheesecake Aunt Laura

Place foil on bottom of oven or on a rack below the baking rack to catch drips. Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in two batches; melt chocolate; soften cream cheese.

Blend:
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (1 package Nabisco Famous chocolate wafers, or Oreos)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (one stick) melted butter

Press crumbs firmly against bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

In a mixer or energetically by hand, beat until light:
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

Gradually add:
1 1/2 lbs. softened cream cheese

Stir in:
8 ounces melted semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat in thoroughly:
1 pint sour cream

Fold in:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Pour into chilled shell. Bake at 350 for 45 or 50 minutes; cake will still be liquid. Remove from oven and chill. Remove rim from pan after cake is chilled before serving.