Caramel Praline Cheesecake

Yes I know, everyone is on a diet right now.  Oh wait, I mean "lifestyle change."  Taking a break from rich desserts, cookie jars, and cheese-filled appetizers.  Well, I'm not going to lie, we kind of are too, and I actually made this way back at Thanksgiving, I just haven't had a chance to share it with you yet.  But despite that, I'm still going to tell you to find an occasion to make this cheesecake.  A birthday, an anniversary, a special dinner for Valentine's Day, Saturday... you know, whatever works in your life.  I'm not the biggest cheesecake lover, but this one is good.  Rich and creamy and topped with a delicious caramel sauce and candied pecans... it doesn't get much better.  And go ahead, use the 1/3 less fat cream cheese if you want, I used it for two of the four packages and it turned out perfectly. 

The best part for those of you Type A dessert makers, the caramel sauce will hide any cracks that you might have.  I got lucky with this one though and it came out perfectly without a crack.

Caramel Praline Cheesecake

Adapted slightly from Taste of Home

Crust:

1 package (about 10) graham crackers

1 T sugar

6 T unsalted butter, melter

Filling:
4 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
5 large eggs
2 cups sour cream (16 oz)
1/4 cup milk
1 T bourbon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 T unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
10-12 pecan halves

Spray a 10-inch springform pan with baking spray and place on a double layer of aluminum foil big enough to fold up around the pan.  Wrap the overhanging foil around the sides of the pan to seal it. 

In a food processor, combine the graham crackers and sugar for the crust.  Pulse 5-6 times until fine and crumbled.  Add melted butter and pulse 2-3 more times until the mix begins to hold together slightly.  Pour mix into prepared pan and press into the bottom in an even layer.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Heat a few cups of water in a tea kettle or microwave in a large measuring cup.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in flour and then eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed just until combined.  Add sour cream, milk, and vanilla and mix to combine.  Pour mixture into crust.  Place the springform pan inside another larger pan (like an 11"x13" baking pan or a 12" cake pan) and pour the hot water around the outside of the springform pan to a depth of approximately 1" to form a water bath.

Bake for about 75 minutes, until the center appears dull.  The cake should still jiggle slightly in the center.  Remove springform pan from the water bath and transfer to a wire rack.  After about 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen and continue to cool about 1 hour.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the topping, stir together sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted.  Cook approximately 15 minutes more without stirring until golden brown.  Reduce heat to low and gradually add the heavy cream.  Cook and stir until the sugar is completely melted and smooth.  Using a candy thermometer, increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 225 degrees.  Remove from the heat and add butter and vanilla.  Cool to room temperature.  Pour evenly over the cheesecake. 

In a small skillet, toast pecan halves over medium heat for a few minutes just until fragrant.  Press one pecan into each slice of the cheesecake or garnish as desired.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

If you don't know what dulce de leche is, you need to find out... now. Its a dark, thick, creamy, caramel-y sauce made from sweetened condensed milk that takes these cheesecake bars from good to oh.my.god.good. There are methods for making dulce de leche yourself; I've tried it before without success. I've heard about boiling, baking, and even crockpot methods, but it's much easier to do the "buy it in the grocery store" method. You might not be able to find it at every grocery store but most large stores carry it. Try either the baking aisle or the Mexican/International foods aisle (this is where it is at my store) and it comes in a small can like sweetened condensed milk. Make sure it actually says dulce de leche as I've seen the same brand of sweetened condensed milk in the baking aisle but it was just the ordinary stuff.

These cheesecake bars have a classic graham cracker crust, the dulce de leche filling and are topped with a chocolate glaze. They work perfectly baked in a 9x13 pan, a jellyroll or regular baking pan both work well. Make sure you also have a larger pan to put the 9x13 pan inside of so you can bake the cheesecake in a water bath. Baking the bars in a water bath prevents the cheesecake from cracking. Also make sure not to skip lining the pan with foil. This helps with almost any bar cookie; just lift out the whole pan of bars using the foil and it is so much easier to cut and serve.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers (about 1 package in the Honeymaid box)
3 T sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil, making sure there is at least an inch overhang on all sides, preferably a couple on both ends. In a food processor, process graham crackers to fine crumbs, add sugar and pulse several times to combine. With processor running, add melted butter and process for about 15-30 seconds more. Press crumbs onto the pan in an even layer. Bake for about 10 minutes and cool in pan on a wire rack.

Filling:
1/3 cup whole milk (I used skim milk and just replaced a little bit with heavy cream)
12 oz cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 can dulce de leche

Beat softened cream cheese with mixer on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping the bowl after each egg. Add the milk and salt and beat on low until smooth. Add the dulce de leche and beat on low speed until smooth. Pour over the crust and smooth with a rubber spatula. Set pan inside a larger pan and add hot water to the larger pan until water is about half way up the sides of the cheesecake pan.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes until filling is just set. Cool on wire rack for about 2 hours and then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours more.

Chocolate Glaze:
3 oz bittersweet chocolate
4 T unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 tsp light corn syrup

In a large measuring cup, add chocolate pieces, butter and corn syrup. Microwave on low powder for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 20-30 seconds until almost melted. Stir until smooth. Pour glaze over chilled cheesecake, tilt the pan or use an offset spatula to smooth the chocolate up to all the edges. Chill at least 30 minutes more.

Use excess foil to remove the bars from the pan, peel foil off the back, and transfer to a cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, cut into squares and serve.

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Again)

So my 2nd attempt at a pumpkin cheesecake was much more successful. The addition of real pumpkin made it so.much.better. That should have been a given, I guess.

This recipe was adapted from Joy of Baking, but the changes were minor (mostly due to what I had on hand).

Pumpkin Cheesecake
(Serves 10)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham crackers
2 T sugar
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 T butter, melted

Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until finely ground, add sugar, ginger, cinnamon and melted butter and pulse until the mixture is combined and crumbly. Press into a buttered, 9" spring form pan, using a smooth glass or measuring cup to uniformly press the crust into the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate crust while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
2 packages cream cheese, room temperature (1 pound) - I used 1/3 less fat
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese on low speed until smooth (about 2 min). Slowly add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and beat until smooth and creamy (1-2 min). Add eggs individually, beating and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and pumpkin and beat lightly (about 30 sec). Pour the mixture over the chilled crust.

Place springform pan on a jellyroll pan in oven. Place a cake pan, filled halfway with water on the bottom shelf of the oven to moisten the air. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees. Continue baking for 10-20 minutes (I only did 10) until edges begin to puff but center of cheesecake is still wet and jiggles. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Run a knife gently around the edge of the pan to help prevent cracking.

Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream (I used FF)
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I used FF)
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Dusting of cinnamon

Whisk topping together and pour over slightly cooled cheesecake. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

As I walking through Target on Monday night, I came across a bag of Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses. I've never had them, but have heard good things, so I bought a package. On the back of the package was a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Swirl Cheesecake Pie. I was planning on making a pumpkin cheesecake this week anyway, so I thought I would give the recipe a try. Although it was good, it didnt really satisfy my desire for a pumpkin cheesecake. So I'm still planning on making some real pumpkin cheesecake too. I wanted to make the cheesecake in my springform pan, I got a set as a wedding present and haven't tried them out yet, so instead of making this in a pie plate as the recipe suggests, I made it in an 8" springform pan which worked great. The recipe below contains my slight modifications.

Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Swirl Cheesecake

(Serves 8-10)

Crust

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

4 T butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

Filling

2 pkgs cream cheese

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

30 Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses

1 tablespoon milk

Topping

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1-2 T sugar

Cinnamon

8-10 Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses

Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter pan. Mix crushed graham cracker crumbs and sugar and add melted butter until well mixed. Press into pan, using a smooth glass or measuring cup to press evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Bake crust in the oven for approx 10 minutes.

Mix softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add each egg, beating well after each addition. Remove 1/4 cup of batter, and pour remaining filling into crust. Heat kisses in the microwave for approx 30 seconds. Stir and continue heating in 10 second intervals as needed. Mix in 1/4 cup batter and stir well. Drop spoonfuls of the candy mixture into the cream cheese filling. Swirl with a knife as desired. Bake for approx 30 minutes until center is almost set. Cool on wire rack until completely cool and then refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, pour heavy cream in a bowl and beat, slowly add sugar, and beat with whisk until light and fluffy. Top cheesecake with whip cream and garnish with remaining kisses as desired. Dust lightly with cinnamon.