Now we are getting fancy!

This week was Cheryl's birthday and when I asked her what she wanted she said something salty/sweet like a salted caramel something or other. Salted caramel is really popular right now and I have never tried it so I was kind of excited. I tend to geek out over trying new recipes so I enjoyed searching for the best salted caramel dessert. 

I decided to go for salted caramel cheesecake made with homemade dulce de leche. This recipe really isn't too difficult but has fancy sounding ingredients and looks super elegant so I highly recommend making it if you want to impress your friends. Plus it tastes pretty delicious!

Ok, so first of all, what is dulce de leche? It is a Spanish treat translated "candy of milk" or "milk candy". You can buy ready made cans of it apparently but I have been seeing people pinning it on Pinterest for a while so I just assumed I needed to make it. It is super easy to make though, and it made me feel pretty gourmet, so I think it was a good choice. 

To make dulce de leche all you need to do is puncture 2-3 holes on the top of a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk. Then you place the can in a pot and pour water up to about a half an inch below the top of the can. Then all you do is heat on medium/high and bring water to a simmer and let simmer for 3-4 hours making sure to add water periodically. When you are done, the milk has magically turned into a thick, creamy, caramel-y sauce.

The other fancy ingredient in this recipe is Fluer de Sel which is a flaky "finishing" sea salt that is more subtle than your typical salt. It is perfect for salting desserts. I decided that if I was going to do it, I would do it right, so I went to a specialty kitchen shop in search for this gourmet salt and found it. I am sure you can't see it from the picture but the texture is great and definitely distinct from regular sea salt. 

Ok, now for the actual recipe, I originally got the recipe from this blog. I changed it up a bit but not enough to claim it for my own. 

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 14 oz can dulce de leche (split in half)

2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract, but the paste makes it all fancy and speckley) 

Topping:

dulce de leche

10 caramel chews

Fleur de Sel 

Directions

Crust:

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” spring form pan. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, 1/2 can dulce de leche, and vanilla bean paste in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Place tin foil wrapped pan in large pan filled with water. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate overnight.

Topping:

Once the cheesecake is cooled, pour the second half of the can of dulce de leche sauce into a glass bowl. Take about 10 caramel chews and heat them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until just melted. Quickly dump the melted caramel chews into the dulce de leche and stir continuously until combined. The consistency should be pourable, but not too liquid. Pour over the top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle with Fluer de Sel. 

Now that I have made it once, I think I would do a couple of things differently next time. First, I would pipe a border around the edge with whipped cream and then pour the caramel topping on, that way it would be contained to the top of the cheesecake. By the time we ate this, much of the sauce and slid off and there was only a thin layer of caramel left. Still good, but I think if each piece had more caramel sauce it would have been even better. Second, I would be more generous with the salt. This was the first time I had ever salted a dessert and I was being very conservative. I think I could have sprinkled more on top and it would have given it more of the salty/sweet taste (which is the whole point of putting salt on dessert). 

All in all, this recipe was a winner. I think cheesecake is my favorite dessert and this one was delightful! Now go make it :)