Turtle Cheesecake

Hello! I'm entering the week with one great dessert that everyone should try at least once in their life. This is my mom's Turtle Cheesecake. Every time we have a special occasion and we ask my mom what she wants for dessert, the answer is always cheesecake - for good reason too.

This one has a great creamy base topped with chocolate ganache, candied pecans, and salted caramel. If you use dark chocolate, this recipe is actually not as sweet as it sounds. So, even if you don't have much of a sweet tooth, you'll still like this dessert.

Yield: 1 medium cheesecake

Prep time: 45 min

Cook time: 2 hours

Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup graham wafer crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

2-8oz packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup butter pecan coffee creamer

2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Mix together the graham crumbs and butter. Press into 9-inch springform pan.

2. Beat cream cheese. Add the sugar and eggs. Then, add sour cream and vanilla. Combine.

3. Pour over the crust. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until centre is cooked.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

3/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Bring a small saucepan to medium heat. Add the cream and chocolate, stirring constantly to keep from burning.

2. Bring to minor boil and allow to thicken, still stirring. This takes about 5-8 minutes. Take off the heat. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before pouring over the cheesecake.

Salted Caramel

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Heat sugarer medium heat, constantly stirring. It will start clumping. Then, it will turn to to liquid and switch to using a whisk.

2. To break clumps, start swirling the pot until it boils and turns amber.

3. Carefully add the butter. Stir until it melts. carefully add cream.

4. Boil for 3 min. Stir in salt.

5. Cool completely before add to cake.

Candied Pecans

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 egg white

1 tbsp water

1 pound pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250.

2. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Place onto a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the pecans around every 15 minutes.

Cheesecake Assembly

1. Wait for the cheesecake to cool completely while before topping.

2. Make the ganache while the cheesecake is cooking. Once these are done, begin the candied pecans and salted caramel.

3. Once the ganache is cooled, place the cheesecake on a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet and pour the ganache on the cheesecake.

4. Then, add the candied pecans and top with a drizzle of the caramel.

Thanks for checking this recipe out! I hope you get to try it out sometime and if you do, let me know how it goes!

I have to think my mom for helping me make this and for sharing her recipe. She's my ultimate reference for recipes and everything cooking that I don't understand. We made this to share for Mother's Day and my sister's birthday (hence the candles). It was a pretty great treat.

Have a great rest of your week! :)