Salted Carmel Cheesecake
Oh how I love cheesecake. If I look at a dessert menu, I am always drawn to the creme brûlée, chocolate cake of some sort or, you guessed it, cheesecake. I also fell in love with the flavor of the salted carmel I made for my salted carmel cupcakes. When I made the carmel for this cheesecake, I think I went through so many little kids spoons tasting it over and over again. Quality control...you know how it goes. It's so good! It paired really well with the cheesecake too.
I actually made it for our church's MOPS auction. Part of the auction was a dessert portion where each individual or couple puts their bid for the dessert in an envelope at the table. Whichever table bids the most, gets first choice at the dessert table. My table actually chose my friend's key lime pie. I give her a hard time because I like to claim it as MY key lime pie because I'm the one who gave her the recipe (even though it's really Bon Appetite's recipe). My table was trying to decide between the key lime pie and the salted carmel cheesecake, but because we had a nut allergy at our table, we went with the key lime. Amazing. So, how do I know the cheesecake with salted carmel was good? I asked their table for a bite. :-) I was also happy to see people continue to cut themselves off more slivers throughout the rest of the evening. Where did my cheesecake recipe come from? My mom. Check this out:
This is my mom's much loved recipe. This is her copy, but she had also written it out for me for my recipe box gift I received at my wedding showers. She took a cooking class that was specifically about cheesecakes. She titled this recipe, "My Favorite Basic Cheesecake Recipe from Cooking School." It's grub. I hope you'll try it out. Adding the salted carmel is fabulous. You could also try my raspberry sauce I made with my raspberry dessert shooters.
Salted Carmel Cheesecake (serves 8-12)
Crust
3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 of the small packages within the box)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (like pecans or walnuts)
1/2 stick butter
* If you have a nut allergy, just replace with graham crackers
Mix crumbs and melted butter and press into the bottom of a well buttered springform pan.
Filling
3 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
5 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Cream the cream cheese with lemon juice until very smooth and light. Add sugar and beat again until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 300 degrees for one hour. Cook in a water bath (see notes below).
Topping
1 1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients and spread carefully on baked cake. Return to oven for five minutes. Cool and chill well. Can be served with strawberries, raspberries and OF COURSE salted carmel (the last is my addition to the recipe). Follow the link to my salted carmel recipe and then drizzle it over the top and sides.
* Cheesecakes can be made in advance. Love that.
Tips for getting it not to crack:
1. Bake in a water bath. I forgot to do that this time, and mine cracked...boo. The great thing about this recipe is the sour cream topping helps cover any cracks. The salted carmel would cover that as well. A water bath is simply a bigger pan filled with water that you set your springform pan in for baking.
2. Avoid over mixing, which adds air to your cheesecake. However, mix enough so that texture is smooth and not lumpy.
3. Do not over bake. You want your cheesecake to still have a bit of wobble in the middle.
4. Use a knife around the sides of your springform pan to assure it doesn't stick and pull as you release it.
5. Make sure the sides of your pan are greased well.
Here's another encouragement to get your helps involved with the process of cooking.
Helping Make the Crust:
Salted Carmel Cheesecake (serves 8-12)
Crust
3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 of the small packages within the box)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (like pecans or walnuts)
1/2 stick butter
* If you have a nut allergy, just replace with graham crackers
Mix crumbs and melted butter and press into the bottom of a well buttered springform pan.
Filling
3 - 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
5 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Cream the cream cheese with lemon juice until very smooth and light. Add sugar and beat again until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 300 degrees for one hour. Cook in a water bath (see notes below).
Topping
1 1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients and spread carefully on baked cake. Return to oven for five minutes. Cool and chill well. Can be served with strawberries, raspberries and OF COURSE salted carmel (the last is my addition to the recipe). Follow the link to my salted carmel recipe and then drizzle it over the top and sides.
* Cheesecakes can be made in advance. Love that.
Tips for getting it not to crack:
1. Bake in a water bath. I forgot to do that this time, and mine cracked...boo. The great thing about this recipe is the sour cream topping helps cover any cracks. The salted carmel would cover that as well. A water bath is simply a bigger pan filled with water that you set your springform pan in for baking.
2. Avoid over mixing, which adds air to your cheesecake. However, mix enough so that texture is smooth and not lumpy.
3. Do not over bake. You want your cheesecake to still have a bit of wobble in the middle.
4. Use a knife around the sides of your springform pan to assure it doesn't stick and pull as you release it.
5. Make sure the sides of your pan are greased well.
Here's another encouragement to get your helps involved with the process of cooking.
Helping Make the Crust:
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