Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cheesecake with Crunchy Praline

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 1 Lime or 1/2 lemon, juice of

• Refrigerated

  • 5 Eggs, large

• Condiments

  • 1 3/4 cup Cacao spread
  • 2 tbsp Honey, raw

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/4 cup Brown sugar, light packed
  • 1 1/2 cup Caramel, Salted
  • 1 Caramel, Salted
  • 1 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
  • 3/4 tsp Himalayan salt
  • 1 Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tbsp Tapioca starch
  • 2 tsp Vanilla, pure store-bought or homemade

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 1 cup Pecan
  • 1 cup Walnuts

• Snacks

  • 2 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs

• Dairy

  • 12 tbsp Butter
  • 2 (227g | 8oz packages Cream cheese, full-fat
  • 1 cup Heavy cream
  • 1 1/4 (500ml container Sour cream, full-fat
  • 1/4 cup Whole milk

• Desserts

  • 1 Praline

Found on eviltwin.kitchen

Description

Ingredients

• 1½ cup salted caramel (youll need one full recipe)
• 1 cup (100g | 3.5oz) walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup (50g | 1.75oz) pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup (50g | 1.75oz) light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
• 2½ cups (200g | 7oz) graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup (100g | 3.5oz) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g | 3.5oz) pecans
• 1/2 cup (120g | 4oz) butter, melted
• 2- (227g | 8oz) packages full fat cream cheese
• 1- (500ml) container full fat sour cream
• 1 cup (200g | 7oz) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (store-bought or homemade)
• The juice of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tbsp tapioca starch (you could also use corn starch)
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 cup (150g | 5.25oz) cacao paste (or unsweetened chocolate), melted
• 1/2 cup (120ml) full fat sour cream (or heavy cream)
• 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
• 3/4 cup (115g) cacao paste (or unsweetened chocolate), very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 cup whipped cream
• Salted Caramel (saved from above)
• Praline (saved from above)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

• Start by making the salted caramel so it has plenty of time to cool.
• Then, make the praline: mix the walnuts, pecans, brown sugar, butter and salt together in a small bowl. Cook this in a large skillet over medium-high heat, until the butter starts to bubble. Continue cooking for one full minute, stirring often and then transfer onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside to cool completely.
• Preheat your oven to 375°F
• Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. To do that, remove the ring and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Fold the excess paper back under the plate and, while holding it in place with one hand, put the ring back in its position with the other hand. Bring the excess paper back from under the pan but do not cut it off.
• Grease the side of the pan with butter or ghee
• Add graham cracker crumbs, pecans and sugar to the bowl of your food processor, process until it has a texture similar to coarse sand. Add melted butter and resume processing until well combined. Press at the bottom and side of the pan, bringing the crust almost all the way up the side of the pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes and set aside to cool
• Bring about 4 cups of water to a boil.
• Beat the cream cheese in the food processor until super smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream and resume processing until well combined; stop the motor to scrape the sides once or twice to make sure every last bit gets incorporated
• Add sugar, vanilla extract and lime or lemon juice and mix until very well combined.
• While the motor is running, add the eggs through the feeding tube, one at a time, making sure that each egg gets well incorporated before adding the next, stopping to scrape the sides as necessary.
• When the mixture is really smooth and the eggs have been fully incorporated, add the starch and salt and mix well.
• Pour about half of this cheese mixture into a bowl (youre looking at about 3½ cups) and set aside.
• Add 1/2 cup of the salted caramel you made earlier to the cheese mixture that is still in the food processor and mix until well combined. Pour that into a large glass measuring cup and reserve.
• Pour the cheese mixture that you reserved earlier back into the food processor.
• While the motor is running, pour 1 cup of melted cacao paste (or unsweetened chocolate) through the feeding tube and mix until fully incorporated.
• Now pour 1/2 cup of the salted caramel over the crust and spread it delicately with a spatula, not quite all the way to the edge.
• Pour the reserved chocolate cheese mixture over the caramel, then sprinkle a little more than half of the crunchy praline over the chocolate cheese batter.
• Next, pour the salted caramel cheese batter very delicately over the chocolate batter.You may even want to pour the batter onto a large spoon (as opposed to directly over the batter) to help break its fall.
• Finally, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the salted caramel over that last layer of cheese batter. (save a little bit to garnish the finished cake)
• Place the cake over a piece of aluminum foil and fold it over the pan so the exterior is completely covered. Now place your cake in a broiler pan, then delicately pour some boiling water into that broiler so it goes to about 1/4 of the way up the side of the pan. Place that rig onto the middle rack of your oven, decrease temperature to 350°F and bake your cake for 25 minutes. At that point, decrease temperature once again, to 250°F and continue baking your cake for a further 75 minutes.
• Turn off the oven and crack the door open. Leave the cake in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, or until cool enough to be handled with your bare hands, and then slide it out of the oven.
• When the cheesecake is completely cooled, run a knife around the rim and refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
• Bring the sour cream (or heavy cream), milk, honey, butter and vanilla extract to a boil over medium heat.
• Immediately pour that over the finely chopped chocolate and let it sit undisturbed for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir delicately with a whisk until smooth
• If the cream wasnt hot enough to completely melt the chocolate, finish melting it in the microwave in 30 seconds bursts, mixing well between each burst, until its completely melted but not hot. You could also do this over a double boiler.
• Pour this chocolate glaze over the chilled, unmolded cheesecake and spread it delicately with a spatula, not quite all the way to the edge.
• Send for a quick trip to the fridge while you whip the cream!
• Pipe little swirls of whipped cream all around the top and bottom perimeter, as well as in the center of the cake.
• Sprinkle whats left of the crunchy praline as well as a handful of mini chocolate chips over the whipped cream, then drizzle some salted caramel over the entire cake.
• If you still have a little bit of that salted caramel left, use it to decorate the plates.
• Stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, this cake will keep for up to a week.
• Serve chilled.