So when National Caramel Day came in this month’s “Celebration of Food”, I had a hard time narrowing it down! There are a lot of caramel recipes that I haven’t shared yet. I settled on a salted caramel cheesecake, and I’m so glad I did.
It turns out that deciding on the caramel cheesecake is the easy part…
I decided to stick with the salty side. So for the crust??? Instead of a traditional cookie crust, I made a shortbread to which I added chopped macadamia nuts, but you can go either way with this one. You can always use shortbread cookies crushed in a traditional crust for a similar flavor.
* Ingredients :
° 1/2 c butter
° 1/3 C packed light brown sugar
° 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
° 3/4 c finely chopped macadamia nuts
* Filling
° 2 lbs full fat cream cheese, softened
° 1/2 c granulated sugar
° 1 teaspoon vanilla
° 1 c caramel sauce
° 2 eggs at room temperature
° 1 liter room temperature egg yolk
° Topping
° 1 1/4 x caramel sauce
° Fleur de sel spray
* Instructions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit,
In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth
Add brown sugar and mix well.
Add the flour and mix until a dough forms
Mix nuts
Spread on a 10-inch cheesecake pan, poke holes
Bake 18 minutes
to calm down.
Reduce the oven to 300 and place a baking dish filled with hot water on the bottom rack to create moisture (leave this while baking).
Filling
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 30-60 seconds.
While whisking over low heat, add the caramel sauce
Scrape out bowl and beat for another 45 seconds – make sure it’s smooth and free of lumps.
Gently whisk the eggs and yolk and add to the cream cheese mixture
Mix on low speed until smooth and velvety, about 30 seconds, scrape bowl and mix another 10 seconds – don’t over-mix.
Pour the filling over the crust and bake on the middle rack for 1 hour +.
How to check if cheesecake is done – when you open the rack and move the pan, the center will shake 3-4 inches – not like soup, like loose jelly.
Turn off the oven, open the door, and let the cake cool, then put it in the fridge overnight.
The next day, pour the rest of the caramel on top of the cake
Sprinkle fleur de sel over the top of the cheesecake, more or less (I’m all for more the better)
Enjoy !
