Brown sugar cheesecake covered in pecans in caramel sauce. Whiskey optional.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Special Occassion
Keyword: cheesecake, pecan, whisky
Servings: 16slices
Calories: 442kcal
Author: Trish Cowper | the infinebalance food blog
Equipment
10 inch round spring form cake pan
large shallow roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet
Ingredients
For the crust:
¾cupgraham cracker crumbsfrom five 4-¾ by 2-¼ inch crackers
½cuppecans1-¾ ounce, finely chopped
¼cuppacked light brown sugar
¼cupgranulated sugar
½stick unsalted butter¼ cup, melted and cooled
For the cheesecake
24ozcream cheese 3 - 8oz bricks of cream cheese, at room temperature
½cuppacked brown sugar
¼cupwhite sugar
1-½Tablespoonswhiskey or bourbon
1teaspoonvanilla
3large eggs
1teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
For Topping
1cup caramel sauce284ml Hershey's Top Scotch Butterscotch Topping (or caramel topping of your choice)
1-½cupspecan halves
Instructions
For the crust:
Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Spray a 10 inch spring-form pan with cooking spray and wrap the outside of the pan with aliuminon foil. Press graham cracker mixture into the bottom of the pan, press firmly, evenly, and about 1 inch up the sides. Chilli crust in refrigerator for 1 hour.
For the filling:
Preheat oven to 350 and boil a kettle of water. You will need a large, shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet to place under the cake in the oven for the waterbath.
In the bowl of stand mixer add cream cheese and sugar and mix on medium speed until creamy and well blended. Continue to beat on low speed. Add vanilla, whisky and eggs, one at a time until well blended after each addition. Do not over beat the eggs. Finally, add spices and ensure they are fully incorporated. Pour mixture into spring-form pan, on top of chilled crust.
Prepare the water bath: fill the roasting pan or rimmed baking pan on the bottom rack in the oven and carefully fill with boiling water. Place the cheesecake filled spring-form pan on a oven rack above the water bath, so that the cake is approximately in the middle of the oven.
Bake at 350 until the center is set (but not cracked) about 50 to 60 minutes. I found 50 was just perfect. The edges of the pie may start to brown, which looks pretty with the caramel sauce on top.
When the cake is set, turn off the oven and crack open the oven door. Leave the cake in the oven to cool for about an hour, two hours is fine. You want to the cake to cool slowly. Then remove from oven and allow to cool completely before adding toppings.
For Topping:
Once cake is completely cooled, remove ring from around the base of the spring-form pan. I like to run a thin knife gently around the edge of the cake before I do this to loosen the cake from the ring. Place cake on serving platter (I leave the bottom of the spring form under the cake to make it easier to move around).
Pour the caramel sauce over the top of the cake. Just enough to fill the center. I used about ¾ of the can. Place pecans on top of the caramel sauce. Serve
Notes
I like Canadian whisky in this cake, mostly because I like a little whisky in my pecan pie. Feel free to use another whisky - really it is about your preference. A nice bourbon would work too.Using a water bath to add steam in the oven while the cake bakes helps reduce the risk of cracks in the top of your cake.Allowing the cake the cool in the oven also helps prevent cracks. When the top of the cake has just set, turn off the oven and crack open the door for a couple of hours to help the cool slowly. Then remove it an continue to allow it to cool before adding the toppings.Nutritional info is estimated and based on 16 servings.