My mom made bibingka cheesecake the other day for one of her projects. The entire month, she has been preparing for her cheesecake class which will be held on Saturday. I, however, have been much less productive because I had food poisoning. While my mother has been whipping up these amazing cakes in our kitchen, I have been lying on my bed, avoiding thinking about anything remotely related to food as it was making me nauseous.
Now that I have recovered, I do not feel as if my stomach will start churning every time I smell anything that is not bland oatmeal and toast. I also feel quite disappointed that I was not able to try the things my mom made, so I guess, I will just have to make my own cheesecake.
Sometimes cheesecakes are too dense. But this one, I can devour two slices off with no problem. The caramel sauce offsets the creaminess of the cake and gives it a little more saltiness.
Recipe
Yields 8-12 servings
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Sauce
375 ml or 1.5 cups warm cream
150 grams or ¾ cup sugar
120 ml or ½ cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
Crust
12 pieces or 120 grams graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter
Filling
2 cups or 450 grams cream cheese
1 cup or 200 grams sugar
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose cream
½ cup sour cream (½ cup all-purpose cream with 1½ teaspoon vinegar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Procedure
Caramel Sauce
In a saucepan on low heat, stir the light corn syrup and sugar together until the sugar dissolves.
Let the caramel cook until it is golden brown. This takes around 8-10 minutes.
Once done, remove from heat and mix in the butter.
Place it on low heat again and slowly add the warm cream. Stir this until smooth.
Add the salt and continue to mix it.
Transfer the caramel sauce into another container and let it cool or chill in the refrigerator.
Crust
Preheat the oven to 350℉.
Mix together the crushed graham crackers, sugar, and butter.
Once the mixture looks like wet sand, pack it into the bottom of a buttered 9-inch round cake pan. You can also use a springform pan for easier retrieval later on. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to ensure that there are no gaps.
Bake this for 10 minutes.
Filling
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until light.
Mix in the eggs one at a time.
Slowly fold in the all-purpose cream and sour cream.
Add the vanilla extract and pinch of salt into the batter.
Once it is smooth, pour half of the batter into the baking pan.
Pour â…“-â…” cup of the caramel sauce into the pan.
Pour the rest of the cheesecake batter on top.
Drizzle more caramel sauce on top and use the end of a knife, skewer, or chopstick to make swirls.
Pour room temperature water on a rectangular baking pan or sheet and place the cake pan in the center.
*If you use a springform pan, wrap its bottom with foil to prevent the water from seeping in.
Bake the cake for an hour and 10 minutes.
Let it set in the refrigerator overnight.
Cut into slices, drizzle with more caramel sauce, and enjoy!
Note: Save your extra salted caramel sauce to make Salted Caramel Ice Cream or drizzle it on top of other desserts!