I’m not a big fan of Christmas pudding or Trifles, so I always go a bit ‘untraditional’ when it comes to Christmas dinner dessert. It’s actually often a cheesecake because you can make them in advance, they aren’t fussy to do and are usually delicious. This Salted Caramel Cheesecake from Delicious Magazine was particularly lush! It’s a perfect dessert for any occasion and though I find baked cheesecakes, to be particularly comforting at winter time.
Salted caramel cheesecake
Serves 10 – 12 | Prep 40 minutes | Cook 1.5 hrs | Requires overnight resting
A little effort
You’ll need:
- Oil for greasing
For the base:
- 250g dark chocolate digestive biscuits;
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder;
- 60g unsalted butter, melted.
For the filling:
- 600g full-fat cream cheese;
- 300ml soured cream;
- 397g tin Carnation Caramel;
- flaked sea salt, to taste;
- 2 medium eggs;
- 3 egg yolks.
For the Caramel Glaze:
- 100g caster sugar;
- 75ml double cream;
- 25g salted butter;
- flaked sea salt, to taste.
Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3. Lightly oil a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Whizz the biscuits and cocoa to fine crumbs in a food processor. Add the butter and whizz until the mixture has the texture of wet sand, then press into the bottom of the cake tin. Chill the base while you make the filling.
For the filling, whip the cream cheese, soured cream and caramel in a large bowl. Add sea salt to taste. Lightly beat in the eggs and yolks until smooth, then pour on top of the biscuit base. Smooth the top, then bake for 1¼-1½ hours until the cheesecake is cooked but still has a good wobble in the middle. Don’t worry if it puffs up and cracks a bit – it will sink back down as it cools.
When cooked, take the cheesecake out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 45 minutes, then remove from the tin and chill overnight.
Just before serving, make the glaze. Put the sugar in a heavy-based frying pan over a low heat and melt, without stirring, until it turns a rich red caramel colour. Add the cream and butter, stirring constantly (be careful in case it spits) until combined. Leave to cool for a few minutes, stirring often. Add a little salt to taste if you like.
To serve, drizzle the caramel over the top, then cut into wedges.
Original recipe from Delicious magazine, issue Christmas 2013, available online here.
Food Notes 