Thursday, January 31, 2008

Caramel Cheesecake

This is a really nice cheesecake. It is smooth, creamy, slightly sweet and rich. The addition of the caramel layer adds a warm almost smoky depth to the cake which can be further enhanced by drizzling some caramel on the cake when it is being served. Very tasty indeed.

Ingredients: Base
1.75 cups of graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbs sugar
½ stick unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients: Cheesecake
2 pounds (4 8oz. boxes) cream cheese at room temp.
1.33 cups sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. scotch
4 large eggs, at room temp
1.33 cups heavy cream
4 oz caramel (see recipe below)

Method: Crust
1.Grease a spring-form pan (9 inch, with sides that are at least 2 inches high). Wrap the bottom of the pan with two layers of foil.
2. Combine the graham crumbs, sugar and salt in a bowl, and then add the butter.
3. Mix the ingredients together with your fingertips, until all the crumbs have been covered with the butter.
3. Place the crumb mixture into the prepared tin, and press into the base and sides of the pan. Do not worry too much about covering up all the sides (the cake becomes stable as it gets colder).
4. Center a rack in the oven and heat the oven to 350F.
5. Bake the base for 10 min.
6. Place on a wire rack and let it cool.

Method: Cake
1.Reduce the heat in the oven to 325F.
2.Put a full kettle on to boil.
3. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the cream cheese for around 4 min at medium speed, periodically scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula.
4. Beat in the scotch.
5. Add each egg separately making sure to beat the mixture for at least a min between each addition.
6. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and mix in the cream.
7. Place the baking pan, into a roasting tray that is large enough to accommodate the baking pan, and have space around the edges.
8. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and once again mix the batter.
9. remove 2/3 of the batter, and place it in a separate bowl. To the 1/3 left in the mixing bowl add the caramel and beat for a couple of min until it has been combine (make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl).
10. Put 1/3 of the plain batter on top of the crumb base and smooth the top down with a rubber spatula.
11. Add a layer of the caramel batter, and finis with a layer of plain batter, making sure to smooth the top.
12. Place the roasting pan in the oven and add the boiling water to it – making sure that the water comes ½ way up the sides of the pan.
13. Cook the cake for 1 hour and 30 min. The top of the cake may be brown, and the cake may have risen (mine did).
14. Turn off the oven and prop the door open with a wooden spoon. Leave the cake in the oven for another hour.
15. Carefully remove the cake from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temp on a wire rack.
16. Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours.
17. When ready to serve, get a hair dryer and heat the sides of the pan, gently slip a butter knife between the pan and the cake and remove the cake from the tin.
18. Serve with a drizzle of caramel.

Mostly taken from the amazing “Baking: From my Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan pp. 235-7.

10 comments:

LyB said...

Caramel brownies and now caramel cheesecake! Can I be your friend? ;)

Lisa Turner said...

I'm speechless! Your caramel adventure has reached a pinnacle with this recipe. I'm so making this. Thank you so much Rhid.

Anonymous said...

everything you bake looks terrific! who are the lucky folks that get to eat all of this? :)

rhid said...

Amy - I bake and then give it to my husband who in turn brings it into his work.

rhid said...

Thanks Lisa!

Anonymous said...

Despite the notation to the contrary, there is no recipe for caramel inside the caramel cheesecake recipe post.

rhid said...

sorry lena - I was refering to the original recipe for caramel - posted two (or perhaps three) posts previous: http://rhid-baked.blogspot.com/2008/01/caramel-challenge.html).

Anonymous said...

I'd like to try out your recipe but
do you think you can help me with the measurement of 1.33 cup? Would that be an equivalent of one cup and 2 Tbsp., maybe?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I dont see where you put in the cream sugar or salt...just guessed. It looks yummy hope it turns out.

lifestyle of the plain jane said...

THE CHEESECAKE WAS AMAZING. this is the best baked cheesecake I've made to date. I've been baking lots of cheesecakes this week making 4 a week. But man, this one is a ripper. The caramel was gooey in the cheesecake but the caramel didnt sit in the middle and sank to the bottom (no problem however, as this gave the cheesecake the two tone colour). The caramel made the cheesecake so creamy and smooth!!! I omitted the scotch and replaced 250g of the cream cheese with 125g of sour cream and 125g of ricotta. Splendid! Didn't think caramel would work so much but shared it with friends and it was quickly demolished ;) THANKS A MILLION!