Coconut-Chocolate-Almond Cheesecake

1-1/2 C chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (28 to 30 Nabisco chocolate wafers)

3-Tbl sugar

¼ C butter or margarine, melted

four 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened

3 large eggs

1-cup sugar

1 (14-oz) package flaked coconut

1 (11.5-oz) package milk chocolate morsels

½ C slivered almonds, toasted

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Garnish: toasted chopped almonds

Stir together first 3 ingredients; press mixture into bottom of a 10-inch springform pan

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes; cool

Beat cream cheese, eggs and 1-cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in coconut, milk chocolate morsels, ½ C almonds and vanilla. Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.

Place semisweet morsels in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Submerge bag in warm water until morsels melt. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over cheesecake.

Cover and chill 8 hours; chill up to five days if desired. Garnish if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings

Darlene Evans, Birmingham, AL (Grand Prize Winner, Southern Living)