Friday, August 30, 2013

Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Chocolate Genache



If you read my first post you know I have a special place in my heart for caramel. This cheesecake has an amazing caramel flavor. Then to cover it with salted caramel sauce and chocolate genache - heaven. And I have to admit, I felt pretty proud of myself seeing all the pieces come together to make such a beautiful, impressive dessert.

It has been awhile since I've made a cheesecake. My youngest, Maya, can't eat them. So this recipe sat, waiting to be made. Thankfully I needed to bring dessert to a friends house. Since she was the one to point out the recipe to me and is always willing to be my taste tester, it was the perfect chance to finally make it! Thankfully Maya was more then happy to have a few of the extra Oreos left over from the crust.

I know this recipe looks intimidating. It takes time and there are many different components to make. But, none of it too difficult. If you don't want to spend the time to go through all the steps, try the salted caramel sauce. It was delicious and could be used for so many things. I used the left over sauce as a topping for vanilla ice cream - so good.

This recipe came from a blog called Tidy Mom.



Oreo crust

45 Oreo cookies crushed in a food processor
7 Tablespoons melted butter

1. Grease a 9" springform pan.
2. Combine the crushed Oreos and butter until all the crumbs are moistened.
3. Press into the bottom and sides of the prepared pan. Freeze until ready to fill.



Salted Caramel Cheesecake Filling

3 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup caramel flavored coffee syrup such as Torani

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until just blended.
4. Add 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup caramel syrup. Beat until blended.
5. Pour filling over crust and bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until edge is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan but the center is still giggly.
6. Turn the oven off, leaving the door propped open 4 inches. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 30 minutes. Once removed from oven, run a small metal spatula around the edges to loosen the cake from the pan. Cool for another 30 minutes on a rack. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.



Caramel sauce

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons caramel flavored coffee syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt

1. In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and caramel syrup. Heat to boiling, cook and stir one minute until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Stir in 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream and return to boiling. Remove from heat and cool 20 minutes.



Chocolate genache

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate
8 oz heavy whipping cream

1. Combine the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high 2 minutes. Whisk, then put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds and whisk again. Repeat at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated into the cream. Let cool 5-10 minutes. It should be still pourable but no longer hot.



Stable Whipped Cream

1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Assembly

1. After Cheesecake has cooled in the refrigerator for at least 6 hrs, make the caramel sauce. Once it has cooled 20 minutes pour it over the top, Put it back into refrigerator while moving to step 2. You will not use all of the caramel.
2. Make the chocolate genache. Once cooled 5-10 minutes pour over the top. I actually ran a metal spatula around the edge and removed the side of the pan before adding the chocolate and whip cream because I thought it would look better in the end. The recipe has the sides left on until serving.
3. Make homemade whip cream and pipe onto cheesecake using a pastry bag and 1M tip.
4. Drizzle some of the left over caramel over top.






1 comment:

  1. Think I will be picking up a new springform pan for this recipe! I know someone else who would love this recipe!

    ReplyDelete