Every year for my husbands' birthday I of course make him a birthday cake. My hubby's a little unusual in the fact that he doesn't want your traditional layer cake with fluffy frosting, no, he always wants a cheesecake. Now I usually make him this chocolate espresso cheesecake that I found ages ago in Bon Appetite, but this year he shocked me and asked me to shake it up just a little and make a butterscotch cheesecake, because....well, he loves butterscotch (I up till this point did not know this, although his repeated requests for butterscotch fudge at Christmas should have clued me in).
So dragging my sick self up from my quarantine and I attempted to whip up this cheesecake. Stupidly I had the dumb idea to make homemade butterscotch instead of cheating and just buying some. Fair warning, do not attempt to make candy when you are sick, it will not turn out well. And do not use those piece of crap "non-reactive" plastic spatulas when making any sort of caramel, it totally f#$%s it up! Nevertheless I continued on with my cheesecake plans, cursing my grotesque looking butterscotch, hoping for a miracle from the kitchen gods for success because lets be real, I was not going to do this f#$%ing thing all over again, I was barely hanging on to consciousness as it was! So I diligently put everything together, ignoring the butterscotch hell sitting in the bowl on the counter, and I added it, with the hopes that it would magically incorporate smoothly into the filling and no one would be the wiser. Well the gods must have been smiling on me that day, or hoping to get rid of me, because it did go in and I did have wonderfully velvety smooth cheesecake filling, that I baked, chilled, and waited on, hoping for butterscotch Nirvana. Did this momentous thing happen? Why yes, yes it did, and thankfully for my husband, it was delicious, as I could tell from how quickly he licked the mixing bowl. So in the end he did eat cake......quite a lot I might add. That's what birthday's are for......so we can all have the chance to dive fork first into cheesecake heaven.
Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
1 package of chocolate wafer cookies
5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 8oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream at room temperature
3 eggs at room temperature
2 egg yolks at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1-1/2 cup butterscotch sauce
1/4 cup whipping cream
4oz dark chocolate chopped
Note: For homemade butterscotch I used the recipe from Simply Recipes here.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor grind the cookies to a fine crumb. While the processor is running drizzle in the butter until thoroughly incorporated. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch springform pan, pressing the crust up about two inches on the sides. Triple wrap the pan in foil, making sure the foil forms a good seal around the pan. Set aside.
To prepare the filling, using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the sugar and the cream cheese until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. Add the sour cream and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Scrape bowl and mix again. Finally add the vanilla and butterscotch, mixing to completely combine.
Lastly in a small pot over medium low heat add the whipping cream and chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and shiny. Set aside.
Pour half the filling in the prepared crust. Using half of the chocolate, drop spoonfuls evenly throughout the filling. Drag a knife through the chocolate, swirling it with the filling. Pour the remaining filling into the crust and repeat with the remaining half of the chocolate.
Place the cake in a roasting pan and filling the roasting pan with hot water until it comes about 2 inches up the sides of the cake pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake the cheesecake until the middle has a slight jiggle to it but the edges look set, about 1 hour. If the cake starts to brown to much on top just cover loosely with foil. Remove the cake from the waterbath and place on a rack to cool. Once cooled remove the foil and place in the refrigerator. Chill the cheesecake a good 4 hours before serving, but it is best to chill it overnight.
So dragging my sick self up from my quarantine and I attempted to whip up this cheesecake. Stupidly I had the dumb idea to make homemade butterscotch instead of cheating and just buying some. Fair warning, do not attempt to make candy when you are sick, it will not turn out well. And do not use those piece of crap "non-reactive" plastic spatulas when making any sort of caramel, it totally f#$%s it up! Nevertheless I continued on with my cheesecake plans, cursing my grotesque looking butterscotch, hoping for a miracle from the kitchen gods for success because lets be real, I was not going to do this f#$%ing thing all over again, I was barely hanging on to consciousness as it was! So I diligently put everything together, ignoring the butterscotch hell sitting in the bowl on the counter, and I added it, with the hopes that it would magically incorporate smoothly into the filling and no one would be the wiser. Well the gods must have been smiling on me that day, or hoping to get rid of me, because it did go in and I did have wonderfully velvety smooth cheesecake filling, that I baked, chilled, and waited on, hoping for butterscotch Nirvana. Did this momentous thing happen? Why yes, yes it did, and thankfully for my husband, it was delicious, as I could tell from how quickly he licked the mixing bowl. So in the end he did eat cake......quite a lot I might add. That's what birthday's are for......so we can all have the chance to dive fork first into cheesecake heaven.
Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake
1 package of chocolate wafer cookies
5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 8oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream at room temperature
3 eggs at room temperature
2 egg yolks at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1-1/2 cup butterscotch sauce
1/4 cup whipping cream
4oz dark chocolate chopped
Note: For homemade butterscotch I used the recipe from Simply Recipes here.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor grind the cookies to a fine crumb. While the processor is running drizzle in the butter until thoroughly incorporated. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch springform pan, pressing the crust up about two inches on the sides. Triple wrap the pan in foil, making sure the foil forms a good seal around the pan. Set aside.
To prepare the filling, using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the sugar and the cream cheese until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. Add the sour cream and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Scrape bowl and mix again. Finally add the vanilla and butterscotch, mixing to completely combine.
Lastly in a small pot over medium low heat add the whipping cream and chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and shiny. Set aside.
Pour half the filling in the prepared crust. Using half of the chocolate, drop spoonfuls evenly throughout the filling. Drag a knife through the chocolate, swirling it with the filling. Pour the remaining filling into the crust and repeat with the remaining half of the chocolate.
Place the cake in a roasting pan and filling the roasting pan with hot water until it comes about 2 inches up the sides of the cake pan. Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake the cheesecake until the middle has a slight jiggle to it but the edges look set, about 1 hour. If the cake starts to brown to much on top just cover loosely with foil. Remove the cake from the waterbath and place on a rack to cool. Once cooled remove the foil and place in the refrigerator. Chill the cheesecake a good 4 hours before serving, but it is best to chill it overnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment