Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

I think I have already established my love for cheesecake.

I was thinking of other flavors that reminds me of Valentines aside from red velvet. I think I have way too many red velvet posts for now, so let me add other flavors to my blog.

Chocolate came to my mind - but then again, it's a classic flavor. It can be a special cake like my moist cake, but I'm thinking of something more related to Valentines.

Then I remembered Caramel! I've always loved caramel-filled chocolates, so why not dedicate a whole cake to caramel?

But I don't want to it be super sweet. As much as I love chocolate + buttercream + caramel separately, putting them all together in one cake sounds like a toothache. So the sour taste of cheesecake contrasting to the sweet flavor of caramel sounds perfect.

I admit - this isn't the prettiest cake I've ever made. I used as little graham crust as I can get away with, and I didn't bake it in a water bath (which resulted to a cracked top). But taste wise? It's amazing!

Another confession: I (secretly) call this "poor-man's cheesecake". I didn't use sour cream or heavy whipping cream for this recipe, used as little graham crackers as I can, and used Kraft caramel candies. But in the end, it doesn't taste short on flavor! It's a perfect go-to cheesecake recipe.

Ingredients
For cheesecake and garnish:

• 12 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Kraft caramel candies, diced into 4 parts/cube
• 2 pcs eggs
• approx. 1/4 cup melted caramel*

For crust:

• 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190C
2. Prepare crust. Mix in crushed graham crackers, sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of an 8" springform pan.
3. Beat cream cheese until soft. Mix in sugar, and add eggs one at a time. Mixture should be runny.
4. Pour mixture into crust. 
5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and showing deep cracks. Cool for 2 hours.
6. Refrigerate cake for 1 hour to overnight.
7. Top with melted caramel. If you want to use candy caramels, simply melt 12 pcs of Kraft caramel candies in a double broiler, together with approximately 6 tsps of milk or water. You may add more liquid if you prefer it to be more runny.

Recipe adapted from WikiHow. 

Just like in my Peanut Butter Cheesecake, my brother had a comment about this cake. He said it's "too sweet". But when I tried it myself, the sweetness was just okay. I think there's something wrong with his taste buds!

Tell me what you think if you'll try this cake! ;)