Budget Eat Repeat

In honor of Mother’s Day I’m sharing a decadent dessert with you that whole-heartedly reminds me of my own sweet mom: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake. Anything and everything salted caramel brings her to mind, and since I can’t be home for this Mother’s Day I thought I would share a recipe in honor of her.

I decided to go with a melted caramel candy sauce instead of doing a completely home made caramel sauce because it’s much friendlier to the casual home baker. Also I didn’t feel like pulling my hair out after three unsuccessful batches of burnt caramel that I seem to need to go through before I make a successful batch. Sue me.

I used an 11 oz bag of Kraft soft caramels and used about  9 oz out of the 11 to make the sauce to cover the top, the other two I microwaved with some heavy cream to put directly into the cheesecake. You don’t have to buy such a large bag, an 8 or 9 oz bag would work as well if you’d rather go for a brand like Werther’s that come in smaller packages.

All in all, cheesecakes can be kind of finicky so make sure you read through my tips and notes to avoid under-baking, cracking, and serving the cheesecake too soon.

A FEW NOTES ON WATER BATHS AND SPRING FORMS:

If you don’t have a big enough pan to make a water bath:

• The purpose of a water bath is to help the center and the sides of the cake bake at a more even rate to prevent cracking. I’ve never made a cheesecake without a water bath, so you may run into a few problems such as the center being under-baked and the top cracking. I would advise you just bake the cake until it passes the “jiggle test” (described in the directions). Don’t worry about the sides being “over-baked”. I thought I “over-baked” a cheesecake once because the top was WAY too brown, it was cracked, and there was no jiggle, and guess what? It turned out pretty much the same as the other ones I’ve made. I’d have to have a perfectly cooked one and an overcooked one side by side to be able to tell them apart.

If your cheesecake does crack, you can always cover the top of the cake with a layer of caramel or ganache, and nobody will ever notice.

If you don’t have a springform pan:

Totally fine. A spring form isn’t necessary, a deep dish pie pan, or round cake pan (maybe even a casserole dish) will work just fine. It’ll be a tight fit, but I did this before I bought a spring form. In fact your cheesecake may even turn out better because there’s no risk of water leaking into the crust from the water bath. You just won’t be able to remove your cake from the pan and have a pretty free standing cheesecake; which honestly doesn’t matter unless you’re really THAT into presentation.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE: You don’t need a water bath or spring form pan to make a cheesecake, they really are only important for presentation. So if you don’t have either but still want to give cheesecake a shot, I’d say go for it! And let me know how your experience goes, I’d love to hear and learn!

If you’re using a water bath:

• I tripple wrap my foil around my pan to make sure water doesn’t get in. Cheesecakes are one of the more expensive desserts to make, in both time and money, so don’t take any chances of letting water seep into the crust. Swaddle that cake baby TIGHT.

• I usually set the spring form in the larger pan and put it in the oven without water, then fill the outer pan with water using a measuring cup once it’s already in the oven. It makes the transfer from counter to oven less stressful.

Appropriate chilling times:

• Always chill your cheesecake for at least 8 hours before serving, otherwise it will have an unappealing custardy texture, vs the firm smooth texture a cheesecake should have.

• You can store this cheesecake for about a week in the fridge as long as it is covered; any longer it’ll start to dry out.

• You can individually wrap pieces of cheesecake in plastic wrap and foil and freeze them for up to 6-8 months.