Cheesecake with Caramel Topping

Cheesecakes are a big hit with my family and this one is their favorite.   Since the holiday season is fast approaching,  I thought of sharing this recipe with M.Comers.   Try it….satisfaction guaranteed!!

It is advisable to start the cake a day ahead of time, as it needs to refrigerate for a minimum of  6 hours.

Serves around 12 not so very hungry people.

For the Biscuit Base:

1 Packet digestive biscuits
150 grms butter, very cold, cubed small

Crumble the digestive biscuits ? add butter and mix till you get a sandy mixture.  Press into the bottom of a 10 or 12 inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 170 o C and bake the Biscuit Base for 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the Cheesecake Batter:

900 g  cream cheese, softened 
Butter (115 g), softened
5 eggs
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar (powdered fine)
2 Tb. cornstarch, sifted
Zest of 1 lemon

Keep the butter and cream cheese at room temperature ?.. ensure that the cream cheese and butter are very soft.  In a bowl add cream cheese, cr?me fraiche and butter and whip till combined.  Add sugar, lemon zest and cornstarch.  Add egg yolks one at a time and beat till combined. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them in the cream cheese batter.

Pour the batter over the cooled biscuit base.  Wrap the springform pan with heavy duty foil (double is better), set it in a large roasting pan.  Pour hot water to come up halfway up the side of the pan. Bake at 170o C  for 1 1/2 hours.  Insert a tooth pick into the cake to check if done (the toothpick should come out clean without any wet batter).  Turn the oven off.   Open the oven door slightly and let cake cool in there for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and refrigerate cold cake for a few hours (at least 6)  to ensure smooth removal from the springform pan.

For the Caramel Topping

240 g  sugar
80 ml water
115 g  salted butter
150 ml heavy whipping cream

Combine sugar and water in a heavy non-stick saucepan.  Keep over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel color. Remove from the heat and add the cream  {it will splatter and bubble but do not panic.. ;)}  Whisk to combine and put back on the fire and let it come to a boil again over low heat.  Cook 10-15 minutes until it reaches a nice creamy consistency.

You can either pour the sauce/topping over the entire cake or cut into wedges and pour separately on each wedge.

We had guests the day we made it;  and we could not stop pigging out. The cake was so soft,  it just melted in our mouth. The topping  was so yummy,  we were all guilty of gluttony??  we must have all added a few cms to our expanding girths 😉 ?.but what the heck?. life is made of many sweet moments….and this was one of ours 😉

Author: Judith Serrao- UAE