Bourbon Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Michelle made an awesome cheesecake for my 50th birthday. She used as a stepping off point, the recipe from WildFlour Pastry bakery in Charleston that was published in Garden and Gun. She made many changes and it resulted in an incredible cheesecake.

To make the caramel – put a sealed can of sweetened condensed milk that you’ve peeled the label off into your slow cooker. Cover entirely with water. Cook on low overnight for about 10 hours. Remove from the water to cool completely before opening.

Crust:
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake:
4 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons bourbon
3/4 cup caramel (see above), warmed slightly
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1/2 cup caramel
2 teaspoons cream (or milk)
2 teaspoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon salt
whole and chopped toasted and salted pecans for garnish
flake salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Pulse the pecans in a food processor until they are finely ground. Add in the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter and pulse until combined. Press into the bottom of a greased 10-inch springform pan. Lightly brown crust for about 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the cheesecake.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl whip the softened cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. Pour in the sugar and mix to combine. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream until well combined. Mix in vanilla extract and bourbon. Add in the warmed caramel and salt and mix until combined.

Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 3 hours in a low oven. Turn oven off and let cool in oven for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the sides to release from the pan. Let cool in pan on rack another 30 minutes before putting it the refrigerator to cool completely before adding topping, at least three hours. We cooled ours overnight.

Warm the remaining caramel in the microwave. Add to it 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of cream (milk would work if you have no cream) and 2 tablespoons of bourbon. Whisk until smooth. Carefully spread on the top of the cheesecake. Top with pecans. Sprinkle with flake salt.

It was a very happy birthday to me!

 

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Lemon Blackberry Cheesecake

I cleaned out the gutters at Michelle’s house and my reward was a special cheesecake. The recipe is from John Besh and instead of making a two layer cake, we combined it all to make a very pretty lavender colored cheesecake that tastes even better than it looks. We replaced the vanilla with limoncello as well as using Michelle’s low and slow method of baking. His batter makes enough for a 10 inch cheesecake – glad we didn’t go with the 9 inch the original recipe listed.

3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 packages cream cheese
1½ cup sugar
¾ cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon limoncello (or vanilla extract)
1½ pints blackberries, divided
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter in a medium bowl. Press onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the cream cheese with the sugar until smooth. Blend in the milk, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in the sour cream, flour and limoncello (or vanilla) until smooth.

In a food processor or blender, purée 1 pint of the blackberries with the lemon zest and juice. Pour the purée into the cheese mixture along with the remaining 1⁄2 pint of whole blackberries and mix well.

Pour the filling on top of the prepared crust. Bake for 3 hours at 200 degrees F. Raise the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking for about 20 minutes or until the top is set. Allow to cool for 30 minutes on the counter. About 10 minutes into the cooling, run a knife along the inside edge, so that it doesn’t crack as it pulls from the side. Once cooled, move it to the refrigerator to finish chilling until ready to serve.

Limoncello Cheesecake For My Birthday

Michelle made me an awesome cheesecake for my birthday. With lemon juice and limoncello liquor, it was amazingly creamy and lemony and off the hook delicious.

This makes a lot of cheesecake – it almost overfilled a 10″ springform pan. You could use two store bought graham cracker pie shells, instead. If you’re making your own crust, it will take 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs mixed with 5 tablespoons of melted butter to coat the bottom of the well buttered pan.

Because this is a low and slow method of cheesecake cookery, do not use a water bath in the oven.

 

Limoncello Cheesecake

4 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup 2% Greek yogurt (we used Fage)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup limoncello liquor
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon peel
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whip the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix to combine. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the flour and yogurt. Slowly mix in the lemon juice and limoncello. Add in the vanilla extract and lemon peel.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 3 hours.

Remove from oven and crank the heat to 500 degrees F. Place the cheesecake back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes to brown the top. Turn off the oven and crack the door and let the cheese cake cool down for 30 minutes. Then run a knife along the edge to release from the pan and cool on the counter for another 30 minutes before putting it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before releasing the sides of the pan.