Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Recipe video above. If you’re looking for a Salted Caramel Cheesecake with big caramel flavour in every bite, you’ve found it! Taking pride of place in my cheesecake collection, this has swirls of buttery caramel baked right throughout the creamy cheesecake filling and extra caramel swished over the top. The perfect balance of rich, creamy, sweet and salty.The best feature are the swirls that open up into cracks. Watch everyone fight for the slices with the MOST cracks, because the crevices fill with caramel! Before you start, please read the IMPORTANT NOTES in Notes section below. Thank you! - Nagi
Servings: 16 slices (or up to 77 petit fours)
Calories: 416cal
Ingredients
Salted Caramel:
- 1 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (Note 1)
- 75g / 5 tbsp unsalted butter , cold, cut into ~ 1cm / 0.4" cubes
- 1/2 cup thickened cream / heavy cream , or any full-fat pourable cream
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, + 50% for salt flakes)
Biscoff Biscuit Base:
- 300g/10 oz Biscoff cookies (38 pieces) or other plain biscuit/cookies 2 1/2 cups crumbs) (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 120g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- Pinch of salt
Cheesecake Filling:
- 1 lb / 500g cream cheese , full fat, softened to room temperature (Note 3 - take note UK/Europe!)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream , full fat (substitute with yogurt)
- 3/4 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (or regular white sugar / granulated sugar)
- 3 large eggs , at room temperature (~55g/2oz in-shell)
- 1/2 of the salted caramel sauce (Note 4 for store-bought)
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Decorating:
- 1/2 of the salted caramel sauce (Note 4 for store-bought)
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes (Note 5)
Instructions
Salted Caramel for Cheesecake (start this 1 hour prior):
- Melt sugar in 4 batches - Spread 1/4 of the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium high heat (or medium, if it's a strong stove). Let it melt, stirring if needed, then add another 1/4 of the sugar, melt, then repeat twice more.
- Amber colour - Once all the sugar has melted, leave it on the stove for 1 - 2 minutes until it becomes an amber colour. ⚠️DON'T WALK AWAY! Sugar burns easily. :)
- Make it caramel! Remove the saucepan off the stove. Add the salt and butter, whisk until melted (it may not combine with the sugar, that's ok). Then slowly and carefully pour in ~1/3 of the cream (⚠️ it will steam and bubble a bit). Whisk that to combine, then whisk in remaining cream (it won't bubble).
- Simmer - Return to the stove, still on medium high. Once you see bubbles, let it simmer for 1 minute, stirring and scraping down sides as needed.
- Cool 1 hour - Pour into a bowl. Cover with cling wrap touching the surface (to prevent a skin from forming). Let it fully cool on the counter before using - about 1 hour.
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan-forced). Place shelf in middle of oven.
- Line pan: Lightly grease a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13" metal pan with unsalted butter. Line with baking paper with overhang to lift the cheesecake out at the end.
Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
- Blitz - Break up biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor. Blitz until fine crumbs. Add butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand. (Note 6)
- Pour into the prepared pan, then firmly press it evenly across the base (base only, not the sides).
Cheesecake filling:
- Cream cheese: Use an electric beater or stand mixer fitted with the paddle (not whisk). Beat the cream cheese just until smooth, no longer than 20 seconds on speed 4. (You want to minimise air bubbles in the batter as they are unsightly).
- Add vanilla, sour cream, sugar and salt. Beat until just combined.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating in between for just 5 seconds. After the last egg, beat as needed until batter is smooth - but stop beating immediately once smooth.
- Pour the mixture onto the base and spread out evenly.
- Caramel swirls - Use a spoon to randomly dollop half the salted caramel you made across the surface. Then use a chopstick to make some swirls. Not too many - we don't want to mix the caramel into the batter, you just want to spread it across the surface. Don't worry about prettiness (we drizzle more on at the end).
- Bake for 35 minutes. The middle should still be a bit soft, but not like a waterbed (ie runny batter under surface skin).
- Cool in oven - Cool the cheesecake in the oven with the door open approx 20 cm / 8" for about 1 hour (Note 6)
- Fill cracks and decorate - As it cools, some of the swirls will open up into cracks. Use a teaspoon to fill these with salted caramel, then use most of the remaining caramel to do bold drizzles across all across the surface, I use about 3/4 of it (use leftover for serving, or another use).
- Fridge set - Refrigerate the cheesecake in the pan for 6 hours+ or overnight.
- Remove & cut - To remove, lift the cheesecake out using the paper overhang. Sprinkle with salt flakes. Cut into however many pieces you desire - 16 bars (pictured), or into 40 x 4cm or 77 x 3cm Petit Four size squares (adorable!).
Notes
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1. Caster sugar / superfine sugar - The grains are finer than regular sugar (granulated sugar) so they melt more easily and evenly, reducing the risk of burning (notorious caramel problem!). Regular sugar is fine too, just take extra care as it melts less evenly. Use a chopstick to stir the sugar (small surface area = less caramel mess). Yes, I know I use a wooden spoon in the video - silly me! Note: Crystallisation (a common toffee problem) shouldn't occur here because the butter and cream fats stabilise the melted sugar. 2. Biscoff base – You’ll need to get 2 standard Biscoff packets (250g / 8.8oz each, 32 biscuits in each), and to use 1 full packet plus 6 extra biscuits (this is 300g/10 oz). Substitute with any other plain sweet biscuits (ie no chocolate coating or filling like Oreos), like Marie crackers, digestives, graham crackers*. If the biscuit you use doesn’t hold together when pinched after mixing in the butter, just add a bit of extra butter until it does (some types are a little drier). * Graham Crackers (US): Use ~ 42 squares / 21 full sheets, or use packet crumbs (2 1/2 cups). 3. Cream Cheese - In the UK and some parts of Europe, block cream cheese isn't available. If you can only get spreadable cream cheese in tubs (softer than block), skip the sour cream. 4. Salted caramel sauce - I don't recommend store bought caramel because it varies in thickness, often it's much thinner. This recipe makes caramel thick enough so the swirls stay visible in the batter, and the drizzle on top sets nicely when refrigerated. Also, homemade flavour reigns supreme! Try it once and you'll never look back. :) 5. Salt flakes make a wonderful finishing touch sprinkled across the surface. If you don't have any (I get it, they are exxier than regular salt!), add an extra 1/4 tsp of cooking salt / kosher salt into the 1/2 batch of salted caramel reserved for drizzling across the surface. It really works here - the salt balances the sweetness of the caramel. 6. Crumbs: OR crush in a ziplock bag using a rolling pin or large can. After butter is added, it should just hold together when pressed between fingers. 7. Cool in oven: This minimises the caramel-swirl cracks that appear on the surface, by allowing the cheesecake to cool slowly. 8. Different measures: Cups and spoons vary slightly between countries (US and CAN are different to most of the rest of the world). I have made the cheesecake recipe using both US and Australian measures with no problems! The batter is a tried-and-tested one I use for all my baked cheesecakes. Storage - Keeps for 4 to 5 days in the fridge but the biscuit base is noticeably softer on day 3. Personally doesn't bother me though, and I never heard any complaints, I am just nit picking! Salted caramel - Can be refrigerated for 2 weeks, but bring it to room temperature before using in this recipe (cold caramel = thicker = sinks into batter). Nutrition per slice assuming all the caramel is used (but actually, I usually have about 1/3 cup left after drizzling), for 16 slices (nice average size I think, larger gets quite rich!).
- The salted caramel has been designed especially for this recipe (consistency is key), so I don't recommend using store bought (see Note 4). :)
- Ensure the cream cheese, eggs and sour cream are at room temperature, else the cheesecake batter will be lumpy.
- Don't be tempted to convert this into a taller round cheesecake, it can't hold up to the amount of caramel incorporated into this (I tried multiple times).
- A Biscoff cookie base is heavenly in this, but feel free to use any plain cookie - Arnott's Marie, Digestives and Graham Crackers are ones I use regularly!
1. Caster sugar / superfine sugar - The grains are finer than regular sugar (granulated sugar) so they melt more easily and evenly, reducing the risk of burning (notorious caramel problem!). Regular sugar is fine too, just take extra care as it melts less evenly. Use a chopstick to stir the sugar (small surface area = less caramel mess). Yes, I know I use a wooden spoon in the video - silly me! Note: Crystallisation (a common toffee problem) shouldn't occur here because the butter and cream fats stabilise the melted sugar. 2. Biscoff base – You’ll need to get 2 standard Biscoff packets (250g / 8.8oz each, 32 biscuits in each), and to use 1 full packet plus 6 extra biscuits (this is 300g/10 oz). Substitute with any other plain sweet biscuits (ie no chocolate coating or filling like Oreos), like Marie crackers, digestives, graham crackers*. If the biscuit you use doesn’t hold together when pinched after mixing in the butter, just add a bit of extra butter until it does (some types are a little drier). * Graham Crackers (US): Use ~ 42 squares / 21 full sheets, or use packet crumbs (2 1/2 cups). 3. Cream Cheese - In the UK and some parts of Europe, block cream cheese isn't available. If you can only get spreadable cream cheese in tubs (softer than block), skip the sour cream. 4. Salted caramel sauce - I don't recommend store bought caramel because it varies in thickness, often it's much thinner. This recipe makes caramel thick enough so the swirls stay visible in the batter, and the drizzle on top sets nicely when refrigerated. Also, homemade flavour reigns supreme! Try it once and you'll never look back. :) 5. Salt flakes make a wonderful finishing touch sprinkled across the surface. If you don't have any (I get it, they are exxier than regular salt!), add an extra 1/4 tsp of cooking salt / kosher salt into the 1/2 batch of salted caramel reserved for drizzling across the surface. It really works here - the salt balances the sweetness of the caramel. 6. Crumbs: OR crush in a ziplock bag using a rolling pin or large can. After butter is added, it should just hold together when pressed between fingers. 7. Cool in oven: This minimises the caramel-swirl cracks that appear on the surface, by allowing the cheesecake to cool slowly. 8. Different measures: Cups and spoons vary slightly between countries (US and CAN are different to most of the rest of the world). I have made the cheesecake recipe using both US and Australian measures with no problems! The batter is a tried-and-tested one I use for all my baked cheesecakes. Storage - Keeps for 4 to 5 days in the fridge but the biscuit base is noticeably softer on day 3. Personally doesn't bother me though, and I never heard any complaints, I am just nit picking! Salted caramel - Can be refrigerated for 2 weeks, but bring it to room temperature before using in this recipe (cold caramel = thicker = sinks into batter). Nutrition per slice assuming all the caramel is used (but actually, I usually have about 1/3 cup left after drizzling), for 16 slices (nice average size I think, larger gets quite rich!).
Nutrition
Calories: 416cal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 476mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 923IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 1mg