Millionaire's Cheesecake
Tags: Dessert
Yield: 16
- 1 cup All-purpose Flour 125g
- 1 stick Butter 114g
- ¼ cup White Sugar 50g
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 3 ¼ cups Cream Cheese 740g (room temperature)
- ½ cup White Sugar 100g
- 3 tablespoon Powdered Sugar
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream 240ml / 240g (must be 33% fat or higher)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar 200g
- 2 sticks Butter 227g
- ⅓ cup Golden Corn Syrup 100g
- 1 can Condensed Milk 397g
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Dark Chocolate 175g (chopped)
- ½ cup Whipping Cream 120ml / 120g
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Put the flour, butter, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. If you don't have a food processor you can also rub the butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips
- Squish the mixture together into a dough and press into the base of a round, loose-bottomed cake pan. Tip: I like to line the base of my pan with parchment paper cirlces to help the cheesecake come out easily later.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks, then set aside.
- Whip the cream cheese, white sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until creamy and smooth.
- Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, just until combined.
- Pour cheesecake mixture into the cake pan, on top of the cooled shortbread base. Smooth out the top and place in the fridge to chill whil you prepare the caramel.
- Melt the light brown sugar, butter and golden corn syrup in a pan and bring to a boil.
- Keep boiling, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to froth.
- Remove from the heat and add in the condensed milk and salt.
- Return to the heat and bring to a boil again. Boil for 1 minute, at this point the caramel shoud be thick enough to coat the back fo a spoon well. If it isn't, keep boiling for another minute, then remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Let cool for about 90 minutes. By this point, it should still be slightly warm to the touch. Remove ¼ of the caramel and set it aside (we'll use this later for serving and/or decorating) Pour the remaining caramel over the cheesecake and spread it out to cover the cheesecake evenly.
- Put the cheesecake back in the fridge and let it chill overnight.
- Measure out your chocolate and chop into small pieces (if not already). Put into a medium bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it is scalding (steam coming off the milk and very tiny bubbles starting to appear).
- Remove the cream from the heat immediately and then pour over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute.
- Stir the chocolate and cream together until a glossy, smooth ganache is formed and there are no more unmelted lumps of chocolate.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, spread ganache over the top of the chilling cheesecake, then let it continue to chill.
- Once the cheesecake has chilled overnight, remove it from the fridge and carefully remove it from the cake pan.
- Heat the reserved caramel in the microwave for 20 seconds and drizzle over each cheesecake slice before serving.
- If you don't intend to serve the cheesecake the next day, I recommend adding this extra step to make sure the base stays nice and crisp for longer:
- Once your shortbread base has completely cooled, melt a small amount of chocolate in the microwave and pour a very thin layer of chocolate over the whole shortbread base. This will set to create a barrier between the shortbread and the cheesecake and prevent it from going soggy.
