This recipe was inspired by the most recent in a long line of visits to a favorite Philadelphia restaurant, Barbuzzo. The Italian and Mediterranean inspired menu features a dessert that is a must-have at the end of every visit, the Salted Caramel Budino. We’ve featured an adaptation of that dessert with our Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread as the base, but it didn’t occur to anyone until sampling this delightful little cup of heaven for about the 100th time that its layers of flavor would lend themselves perfectly to a pretty spectacular cheesecake. The chocolate cookie crumbles, caramel pudding, hand-whipped cream and that extra drizzle of salted caramel sauce—because you can never have too much of this particular good thing—were practically begging for a larger stage upon which to work their magic. Off to the kitchen it was…
For the caramel sauce that flavors the cheesecake and serves as the drizzle topping, there was no need to look to any other source than David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop cookbook, boasting what might actually be the best caramel sauce in all the land. His salted butter caramel sauce is luxe and perfectly balanced as is, so you should definitely have it in your arsenal, particularly if you enjoy making your own ice cream.
For the purposes of this recipe, it required some slight adjustments (for practical reasons only). Not wanting to add too much liquid to the cheesecake mixture, the amount of cream was reduced from the original, ensuring that the cake would set properly in the oven. The amount of sea salt in the sauce was actually increased so that the flavor wouldn’t be diminished, or even lost, in the larger “landscape” of the cheesecake.
The next component that had to be just right was the chocolate crumb crust. For this recipe, since it was prepared for a crowd with no allergy issues, conventional chocolate wafer cookies were used. It’s an easy swap to use gluten free K-toos chocolate sandwich cookies, though, and the flavor and texture are indiscernible from their gluten containing counterparts.
While there are a lot of components to this recipe, there is the advantage of being able to prepare both the caramel sauce and the crust a couple of days in advance. You’ll simply keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready for them. The filling actually comes together fairly quickly and the whipped cream is a 3-5 minute project, so work ahead and you’ll have a stress free dessert option at your fingertips.
Speaking of stress, this recipe eliminates one of the fussier techniques that we’ve previously espoused in our Pumpkin Cheesecake post: the bain-marie. This water bath is the go-to method to ensure proper, thorough cooking while giving you the best chance of avoiding those frustrating cracks that can ruin the surface of your cake. Recently, however, while making a cheesecake in someone else’s less well-appointed kitchen, there wasn’t a large enough roasting pan on hand to accommodate the spring form pan.
Rather than panic, the spring form was placed on a baking sheet and cooked dry at a lower temperature for a slightly longer cooking time. As you can see, there were a few small fissures in the surface, but the cheesecake was just as moist and creamy as always. A layer of whipped cream covered the imperfections and a culinary crisis was duly averted.
Chalk it up to fatigue, time constraints, or even just laziness, but it’s good to know that such great results can be achieved without the extra effort. The bain-marie might be a thing of the past in these parts. Some other “tweaks” that could be made are to add a dash of Kahlua or other coffee liqueur to the whipped cream for a “salted caramel latté” variation. You could even add a little espresso powder to the crust.
Other gluten free (and more budget friendly) options for the crust could be chocolate Rice Chex cereal, or even the now “officially” gluten free Chocolate Cheerios. Just add in a couple of tablespoons of dark cocoa for extra chocolate flavor, pulse them in the food processor the same way you would the cookies until you have 2 1/2 cups and you’re good to go. Just don’t forget that caramel drizzle… Enjoy!
Salted Caramel adapted from The Perfect Scoop. Crust adapted from Bon Appetit.
- For the Salted Caramel:
- ¾ cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup heavy cream, warmed slightly
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt
- For the Crust:
- 1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies, or 22 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed to about 2 ¼ cups crumbs
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 7 tablespoons hot melted unsalted butter
- For the Cheesecake:
- 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- For the Whipped Cream;
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- For the salted caramel sauce: Heat the sugar in a large, heavy-duty saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel turns a deep golden brown and starts to smoke.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and add the butter. Stir until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in warm cream, about ¼ cup at a time, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but stirring it over low heat should encourage those bits to melt. Stir in the vanilla extract and sea salt, then set aside to cool.
- To make the crust: Finely grind cookies, chopped chocolate, and brown sugar in processor. Add butter and process until crumbs begin to stick together, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 1 minute. Transfer crumbs to 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides. Use a measuring cup to evenly spread crumb mixture throughout the bottom and sides of the pan. Transfer crust to refrigerator until ready to use.
- To make the cheesecake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add in the salted caramel sauce, reserving about 2 tablespoons, and mix until fully incorporated.
- Pour cheesecake batter into prepared crust and place pan on a large baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave cheesecake in hot oven for another hour.
- Remove from the oven, then transfer springform pan to a wire rack. Cool to room temperature, then transfer to refrigerator until well chilled, at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- To make whipped cream topping, beat heavy cream and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- Run a sharp knife between the crust of the cheesecake and the sides of the pan. Release pan sides and transfer cheesecake to serving platter. Spoon whipped cream on top of cheesecake and drizzle with reserved salted caramel sauce. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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