It was 'drool' at first sight for me and this recipe. As soon as I spied its glorious butterscotch-coloured center with its cloudlike topping and ooozy caramel dripping on the cover of the latest Donna Hay magazine I knew I had to make it. In fact I ended up making this a day early as I just couldn't wait another moment to dive into it with a side -turned spoon. A gigantic dessert side-turned spoon.
I had two slices (well, slice is putting it lightly, more like slabs) straight after each other and had to practically bind my wrists not to have a third before dinner. After hearing my moans of gastronomic pleasure, my husband, who has never liked cheesecake, was so curious as to what could elicit such happiness from me asked to have a try. Alas, he still doesn't like cheesecake, although he did say it was the nicest cheesecake he didn't like...
If you like cheesecake then I have three words for you; GET. ON. IT.
ease: 4/5.
prep time: 2.5hours until cheesecake rests in fridge.
cooking time: 3hours chilling time.
total: 5.5hours.
taste: 5/5. Possibly the best cheesecake I have eaten.
The flavours are simple; caramel, vanilla, salt and a touch of sour cream. Together they create a perfect whole. At first I thought the sour cream topping would be too sour but it balanced the sweetness of the crust (which I had a slight crumbling problem with upon cutting) and the delicious caramel tones of the cheesecake. For my caramel sauce I added 1/4-1/2tsp fleur de sel salt, instead of sprinkling actual salt on top of the cake. The sauce was to die for, great balance between sweet and salty and the perfect accompaniment to the cake. The texture of the cheesecake layer was smooth and almost fluffy.
Next time though I would use a vanilla bean for the cheesecake part rather than vanilla extract.
As I couldn't eat a whole cake by myself (hubby finds cheesecakes too rich) I gave some to family and they absolutely raved about it. I even had my dad come back for seconds.
would I make it again: Yes. At first I was going to say no as I am the only one in our house who eats cheesecake, and making a whole cheesecake just for me to eat is asking for trouble. But after all the raves from my family cheesecake-eaters I will be keeping this recipe for when I need to bring a dessert.
recipe: http://www.donnahay.com.au/CatalogueRetrieve.aspx?ProductID=3145931&A=SearchResult&SearchID=1687177&ObjectID=3145931&ObjectType=27
My partner and I are the traditional bringers of the cheesecake (not quite sure how that happened but not a bad job to be given), so we are always looking for a new one. This sounds fantastic and is getting bookmarked right away.
ReplyDelete"the nicest cheesecake he didn't like..." - your husband is too cute! Sounds like the perfect dish to take around Christmas Day (don't laugh, it's creeping up for sure). You'd be the favourite guest in my house!
ReplyDelete*whimpers*
ReplyDeleteI adore cheesecake and crave it like mad, but haven't had it in over a year. Darn lactardation! Seriously, seriously want this...
Mmmhhh, fantastic! That is such a beautiful and tempting cheesecake. Now I'm craving it...
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
This looks great. Love salted caramel! My husband's birthday is soon. Think I may have to make this. How could one resist cheesecake? Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh, I've been drooling over this cover recipe too - can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeletethis looks absolutely amazing
ReplyDeleteLooks fabulous - gonna try it soon!!
ReplyDeleteok...WHEN can i make this a reality? Seriously, this is intensely awesome lookin'! I could not resist this if i tried, gorgeous recipe and irresistible photos! :)
ReplyDeleteYum, am so attempting this for my next bring a cake occasion :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, beautiful pics *drooling...
Gracious, I bought the latest magazine for the exact same reason! So delightfully simple!
ReplyDeleteyou can't eat an entire cheesecake yourself? i'd almost say i can't either, but i find myself oh-so-tempted by this! :)
ReplyDeleteWow does this ever look delicious! Thanks for posting! I'm surprised you had left overs when your Dad came back for seconds. In my house it would be gone in a few seconds :)
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome....but I do not do recipes in grams, simple is the name of my game and conversion is not included. :(
ReplyDeleteThere is a "gluten free" label to this post...did you use gluten free cookies for the crust?
ReplyDeleteThe recipe only asks for 'sweet cookies' so if you pick GF ones it will be completely gluten free.
ReplyDeleteI made this for myself so I used my favourite wheat cookie, but if I was taking it to a family event that has Gluten Intolerant relatives I would use a GF cookie.
Looks fabulous
ReplyDeleteumm...wow. seriously. that looks incredible!
ReplyDeleteYou just can't beat Donna Hay recipes and it certainly looks as though you did it justice. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMhmmmm! I love this. It looks awesomely delicious - cheesecake and salted caramel?! Yes please.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you I'd make this and then just keep it in the fridge for secret midnight snacks...
Jax x
Oh holy foodgasm! I just bought this issue while in Singapore actually. Drooled then and droooooling now!
ReplyDeleteI drooled when I saw this cheesecake on the cover of Donna Hay's magazine too! Anything caramel has me drooling. So great to hear it turned out so well for you. It's moving up my list of things to bake (believe me it's a long list)! Yum!
ReplyDeletegosh this looks devilishly delicious :D mm love salted caramel and love cheesecake so doublely love ^^
ReplyDeleteI want to make this too! Your cheesecake looks delicious. The flavors sound amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm cooking it this avo and finding that it is taking way longer that 1 hour 30 minutes to cook ... Did you find the same? Any tips? It's still really wobbly... My oven us pretty new and good quality so unsure why.....thanks (btw how good does the raw cheesy mixture taste oh my god....!!!)
ReplyDeleteMine took long but it was still wobbly, it firms up in the fridge :)
ReplyDeleteMine took long but it was still wobbly, it firms up in the fridge :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is golden syrup?
ReplyDeleteDid you use a food scale for the metric measurements? I don't have one and wondered if there's a good alternative to figuring up how much of each ingredient I should use. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis brings new meaning to the concept of food porn. I came across this photo on the website I'm working for and just wanted to verify that it was okay. We're a young startup in Berlin and don't want to step on anybody's toes. Please get in touch with me at nick@pinspire.de if you'd like the link. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteSalted caramel is the best!
ReplyDeleteCheesecake with caramel... wow!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have the conversions for the measurements (I can do them but if someone else has it would be quicker!) and know what pouring cream and golden syrup mean? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you would use a vanilla bean as opposed to extract next time, what does that mean exactly? I'm not new to baking but I am new to baking things other than pudding cookies. :)
ReplyDeleteI would use two vanilla beans (the seeds which you scrape out of the bean) to add to the cake and the cream layers instead of the 2tsp of extract - I prefer the taste and look of real vanilla beans as opposed to the extract, and since the vanilla is a main flavour component it would be nicer with vanilla beans.
ReplyDeleteMade this for the staff where I worked when the issue of magazine came out, was one of the best dishes recieved ever! Got asked for the recipe which I gladly passed on. Thankyou for putting the link up, I had misplaced the recipe, definitly making again. It truly is the best cheesecake I have had (other than my mums fridge cheesecake :) )
ReplyDeleteLove your photos ! Omg, it looks so yummy.. Perfect
ReplyDeleteDid you go out and find what I presume are more commonly UK ingredients? Or did you substitute them? I've personally never used golden syrup or pouring cream and I hate changing a recipe too much the first time I make it.
ReplyDeletePouring cream is like half and half and golden syrup could maybe be substituted with honey or treacle, perhaps maple syrup but that is a lot thinner
ReplyDelete