Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake (original) (raw)

So, after a month of posting not very much at all (apologies), here is the first post of the new year! Hopefully I will be updating quite frequently, providing I don't get grumbled at too much for baking every week.

The first post of the year is something I hadn't tried before, Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake, and was one of multitudinous things I made for dessert for Christmas Day.

Perhaps not the prettiest of cakes, but delicious nonetheless ;)

It's a bit fiddly, but not hugely so, and needs a bit of fridge space which we didn't really have and so my poor cheesecake got a soggy biscuity bottom. It was still nice though.

Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery 'Cake Days' book.

Ingredients

Biscuit base

200g (8oz) digestive biscuits
100g (3 1/2oz) unsalted butter, melted.

Cheesecake Topping

700g (1 1/2lb) full-fat cream cheese (such as philadelphia)
120g (4oz) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 large eggs
80g (3oz) pecans, finely chopped. Plus 10-12 pecan halves, to decorate.

Butterscotch glaze

60g (2oz) unsalted butter
45g (1 1/2oz) soft light brown sugar
2tbsp whole milk (I used semi-skimmed)
120g (4oz) icing sugar
1tsp vanilla essence.

One 20cm (8in) diameter spring-form cake tin

Method

1. Line the base of the cake tin with baking parchment, then, in a food processor, whizz the digestibe biscuits into fine grumbs using the blade attachment. Alternatively, do what I did and pop the digestives into a plastic bag, tie, and whack the digestives with a rolling pin until reduced to crumbs.
2. Place the biscuit crumbs in a bowl, add the melted butter and mix together with a spoon. Pour the buttery crumbs into the lined cake tin, pressing them into the base of the tin, then place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to cool and set.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160c (320f), Gas mark 3, and prepare the cheesecake topping.
4. Using a hand-held whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and canilla essence on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the chopped pecans by hand and then pour the cheesecake mix on to the chilled biscuit base.
5. Wrap the cake tin in tin foil and place in a roasting tin. Fill with water to about 5mm from the top of the cake tin, creater a water bath for the cheesecake to bake in, to prevent it cracking on top while cooking (I used a large pot as I didn't have a roasting dish deep enough). Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cheesecake is a light golden colour, especially aroud the edges, firm to the touch and with only a slight wobble in the middle.
6. Allow the cheesecake to cool down at room temperature while still in the tin, and then place in the fridge to set for a few hours.
7. When the cheesecake is fully chilled, make the butterscotch glaze. Put the butter, sugar and milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the icing sugar and vanilla essence, then whisk until the glaze is smooth (which you'll notice mine is not...)
8. Pour the glaze on top of the cheesecake and decorate the top with the pecan halves. Place in the fridge to set for a few hours, or overnight if possible. Remove from the cake tin before serving.

And there you have it. The next post will likely be Sticky Toffee Pudding, another new try for me :)

Enjoy!