Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Sweetest Thing

Photobucket

Photobucket

My best friend Kini turned 21.
I made her a birthday cake.
She had only one demand - that it be the most decadently rich cake she's ever eaten.
So, I decided to combine her two loves: Jersey caramels and New York Cheesecake.

She asked. I delivered.

Happy Birthday my beautiful sister!


Jersey Caramel Cheesecake
with Salted Caramel Sauce

For the base:
250g biscuits (I used Chocolate Ripple)
125g butter, melted

For the filling:
3 x 250g packets of cream cheese
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 packet of jersey caramels, sliced in half

For the sauce:
120g sugar
40ml water
55g butter
75ml whipping cream
a few pinches of sea salt (optional)

For the base, process the biscuits in a food processor until they become a fine crumb. Add in the melted butter and stir to combine. Press the mixture on the base and halway up the sides of a small springform pan. Make sure the biscuit is pressed down firmly and there are no gaps or holes. Refridgerate to set for at least an hour.

For the filling, beat the eggs and sugar on high until really pale and quite fluffy. The more you beat the eggs the lighter your finished cake will be, so I tend to mix the eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes. It seems excessive but it really does make a difference. Add in the vanilla, softened cream cheese and lemon juice and mix until smooth and creamy. Grab your caketin from the fridge and pour half of the mixture onto the biscuit base. Place a layer the halved jersey caramels onto the mixture, making sure to cover the whole area. Now pour the rest of the mixture over the top. Spread the mixture out evenly with a spatula and bake in a pre-heated 160 degrees celsius oven for about 45 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and refridgerate overnight to set.

For the caramel sauce, dissolve the sugar in the water in a saucepan on a low heat on the stove. When all the sugar is dissolved, add the butter and bring to the boil. Boil the mixture until it becomes a dark golden colour. Add in a few pinches of sea salt. Pour the cream into the mixture and quickly whisk to incorporate. Remove from the heat and pour into a small jug. Refridgerate overnight.

When ready to serve, remove cake from tin, pour over the caramel sauce and top with a few jersey caramels and eat, if you dare.


Photobucket

5 comments:

  1. yummy yummy yummy! rub my tummy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. She is the BEST Bestfriend a girl could ask for..believe me!The cheesecake was the highlight of the night! Love you cutie pie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. its a choc biscuit (plain) available in Australia by Arnotts

      Delete
  4. Great idea for flavours for this cheesecake - the recipe needs a little tweaking though!

    I learned the hard way that you can't beat cream cheese into eggs without it going every where and getting a lumpy final result - usually I would beat cream cheese first, then stir in eggs and 250g sour cream. The result for that is like velvet! Overbeating your eggs can cause it to collapse in the centre too.

    Looking forward to trying the finished result when it's cooked!

    ReplyDelete