Creamy Caramel Cheesecake

I love this cheesecake. I don't post many desserts since I don't have much of a sweet tooth. So it came as a surprise to me how much I enjoyed this recipe and wanted to share it with you. It's made with toffee bits which are melted in the cheese batter as it bakes. I also love the unexpected and pleasant surprise of a thin layer of chocolate between the crust and the cheesecake filling.

This recipe is adapted from the Bite Me recipe book by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat.

Feeds 12 people
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of Graham baking crumbs (original recipe calls for Oreo crumbs, so pick whatever you prefer)
• 1/2 cup of melted butter
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate
• 4 x 250g packages of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 cups chopped toffee bits (see picture below for reference)
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce (store bought or you can make your own)

Found in most grocery stores

Step 1: The crust

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Take a 9 inch loose bottom pan and wrap the outside with aluminum foil. This helps prevent any messes caused by potential leaking from the cake. Mix the baking crumbs with the melted butter and press this mixture over the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan.

Melt the chocolate with the whipping cream in a saucepan and pour evenly over the crust. Chill the crust in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Step 2: The filling

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese together until smooth.

Before

After!

Gradually add the sugar to the cheese and mix together. Add the eggs one at time until well blended in.

Your filling should have more of a liquid consistency now. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of your mixing bowl once in a while to make sure there isn't any unmixed clumps of cream cheese stuck there. Add the vanilla extract and mix in the toffee bits.

Step 3: Baking the cake

Your filling is now complete. Pour it into your pan on top of the prepared crust. Spoon the caramel sauce over the top of the filling. Don't worry if some of it sinks in, it will still taste good!

Place your pan on a baking sheet on the medium rack of your over. Bake for 1h15 minutes. Depending if you have a convection oven or not, you may require more time. Mine needed maybe another 10 minutes more than this time to be completely set in the middle.

Remove from the oven and let the cheesecake cool to room temperature. Cover with a plastic wrap and chill for several hours before serving. The longer the better. Enjoy!