Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Driving to join friends for lunch, I turned my head to check on the salted caramel cheesecake, my most requested dessert, nestled carefully on the back seat, and gasped in dismay. Unable to resist a preview of the finished dessert, I had topped the cake with lush, golden caramel sauce before leaving the house. It was a mouth-watering sight. Unfortunately, the caramel had languidly dripped off the top of the cake and was now spreading all over the seat of the car. Our brand-new car. I hoped that I could salvage the mess when I reached my destination.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Upon arriving, I rang my hostess Yehudis’ doorbell in a panic. She hurriedly followed me out to the car to assess the situation. We looked at each other in silent agreement and scooped the wayward caramel back on to the top of the cake. I rushed into the house and deposited the cake in the refrigerator so that the caramel sauce could chill and firm up. Meanwhile, Yehudis filled a bucket with steaming hot water and a generous handful of Tide detergent. She grabbed a scrub brush and marched outside. “Relax”, she said. “The car’s gonna look like new.” And it did. Dessert was greeted by enthusiastic “oohs” and “aaahs” and everyone’s plates were licked clean. Surreptitiously I scooped up a little bit of extra caramel sauce from the side of the cake platter with my spoon. Stress relief therapy… you understand.

This recipe was originally published in Bon Appetit magazine in December 2004.

Assemble your ingredients. The original recipe calls for a gingersnap crust. Biscoff Lotus cookies are an excellent substitute, but graham crackers work just fine if that’s what you have. Set out the cream cheese and eggs 3 hours before you start to bake. For best results they should be at room temperature. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 9-inch springform pan with baking spray. Using the bottom of the pan as a template, trace a circle on to a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the circle and place it into the bottom of the spring form pan. This is useful for transferring the cake to a serving platter before serving.

Using a food processor, crush about 20 Biscoff Lotus cookies (or graham crackers) into crumbs. Mix the ground cookies, butter and sugar together until moist clumps form. Pat the crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan to make an even layer.

Wrap the outside of the pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake the crust until firm, about 14 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and maintain the oven temperature.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, until smooth. Beat in the melted butter and then add the eggs, one at a time, until just blended. Beat in the vanilla. You don’t want to overbeat the cheesecake. The primary and most common reason that many cheesecakes crack is because the batter is overmixed. Pour the batter over the crust in the pan. 

Place the springform in a large roasting pan. I used a 9X13-inch disposable pan but if you have a larger pan, that’s even better. Set the pan on the oven rack and pour hot water into the 9X13-inch disposable pan until the water reaches half way up the sides of the springform pan. Be careful not to splash the water onto the cake batter. Baking the cheesecake in a water bath or bain marie not only prevents the cheesecake from cracking on top, but also ensures the cheesecake will come out smooth and creamy. Bake the cheesecake uncovered for 70 minutes, until the filling is puffed around the edges and moves slightly in the center when the pan is moved.

Remove the pan from the water and remove the foil. Place the hot cheesecake uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. (Sorry, I was in such a hurry to rush the cheesecake into the fridge, I forgot to take a picture of it 😕). 

Make the salted caramel sauce and allow it to chill in the refrigerator overnight as well.

Just before serving, cut carefully around the perimeter of the cold cheesecake using a sharp knife to free up the cake. Remove the sides of the spring form pan. Transfer the cake to a serving platter or serve it from the spring form base if you are having second thoughts about moving it. Top the cheese cake with 1 cup of salted caramel sauce.  Garnish the perimeter of the cake with 5 ounces of chopped chocolate bars, preferably something with caramel in it. I often make David Lebovitz’s recipe for chocolate almond buttercrunch toffee to sprinkle around the edge of the cake. This cheesecake will assure you of no shortage of party invitations, provided that you bring the dessert.

Print Recipe

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Desserts

By Bon Appetit, Dec. 2004 – Serves: 16

Prep Time: 25 minutes – Cooking Time: 14 minutes + 70 minutes – Total Time: 110 minutes

New York style cheesecake topped with golden buttery caramel with a hint of sea salt.

Ingredients

• Crust:
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 cups ground Biscoff Lotus cookies (about 7 1/4 ounces) or graham cracker crumbs
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
• Cheesecake
• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Caramel topping
• I use this recipe: https://nancooksthebooks.com/salted-caramel-sauce/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=salted-caramel-sauce
• 5 ounces chocolate bars with caramel (I used Milk Munch in the pictures), chopped into a 1/4-inch dice. You can also use chopped English toffee bars (Skor)
• (You can also make this recipe for chocolate almond buttercrunch toffee: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/chocolatealmond/)

Instructions

1

Set out the cream cheese and eggs 3 hours before you start to bake. For best results they should be at room temperature. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 9-inch springform pan with baking spray. Using the bottom of the pan as a template, trace a circle on to a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the circle and place it into the bottom of the spring form pan. This is useful for transferring the cake to a serving platter before serving.

Crust

2

Using a food processor with the S-blade, crush about 20 Biscoff Lotus cookies (or graham crackers) into crumbs. Mix the ground cookies, butter and sugar together until moist clumps form. Pat the crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan to make an even layer. Wrap the outside of the pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake the crust until firm, about 14 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and maintain the oven temperature.

Cheesecake

3

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, until smooth. Beat in the melted butter and then add the eggs, one at a time, until just blended. Beat in the vanilla. Pour the batter over the crust in the pan. 

4

Place the spring form pan in a large roasting pan. I used a 9X13-inch disposable pan but if you have a larger pan, that's even better. Set the pan on the oven rack and pour hot water into the 9X13-inch disposable pan until the water reaches half way up the sides of the springform pan. Be careful not to splash the water onto the cake batter. Bake the cheesecake uncovered for 70 minutes. Remove the pan from the water and remove the foil. Place the hot cheesecake uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.

Caramel Topping

5

Make this salted caramel sauce: https://nancooksthebooks.com/salted-caramel-sauce/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=salted-caramel-sauce. Allow the caramel sauce to chill in the refrigerator overnight as well.

6

Before serving, cut carefully around the perimeter of the cold cheesecake using a sharp knife to free up the cake. Remove the sides of the spring form pan. Transfer the cake to a serving platter or serve it from the spring form base if you are having second thoughts about moving it. Top the cheese cake with 1 cup of salted caramel sauce.  Garnish the perimeter of the cake with 5 ounces of chopped chocolate bars, preferably something with caramel in it. Chill until ready to slice.

Notes

Leftovers (I know, what are those?) can be frozen in single serve slices individually.