If you’re looking for a new idea for a holiday dessert, this brown sugar cheesecake is it! Creamy, smooth, with a sour cream topping and the unmistakable caramel flavor that only brown sugar can create.
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I have a lot of cookbooks, and I mean hundreds. A lot.
So I have recipes I want to try bookmarked everywhere. This brown sugar cheesecake had been on my bucket list for years. Well, it’s finally here, and let me tell you it’s an amazing recipe!
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For those not familiar with cheesecake, it is a sweet, creamy dessert made with cream cheese as its main ingredient.
It usually has a graham cracker base, but a sweet dough works well too.
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About this cheesecake.
I have a very purist approach to cheesecake, not because I don’t like additions, but because I think the basic list of ingredients for the actual cheese part should include four ingredients: cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and cream/sour cream. We can even cut that down to the first three. There’s no need for starches (flour, cornstarch).
Filling and topping.
That said, this filling has a few more ingredients and it includes butter. Oh my, what is wrong with me, right? Well, it turns out it works fantastically.
There are some things, ingredients in this case, and more specifically the butter involved, that should be left in the dark. It’s there, but nobody needs to know.
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This cheesecake filling is terrific, smooth, creamy, with a hint of sweet bitterness from the molasses. Fabulous. I wouldn’t be giving you the recipe, leaving behind my purism mentioned above if it wasn’t completely worth it.
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About the crust.
The crust involves the popular graham cracker cookies and almonds.
Nuts give this, and any other cookie crust, a wonderful crunchiness, and toasted flavor. Almonds are the ones usually used because they go with everything, but you can use another nut. Pecans?
It covers the bottom and goes up the sides of the pan, so there’s more crust than usual. Which is a good thing for sure.
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So rest assured that it’s worth every calorie.
It’s the perfect dessert for the string of holidays that have already started and go into the next year. A wonderful alternative to the traditional pies and cakes, or a different addition to those recipes which will cause an upheaval in the house if you don’t make them, and will have some pouting like an eight-year-old.
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So let’s just add it to the dessert table and have everyone taste it and give their verdict. I’m sure you’ll be guilty of introducing a new favorite.
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Other recipes you might like:
Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.
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If you’re looking for a new idea for a holiday dessert, this brown sugar cheesecake is it! Creamy, smooth, with a sour cream topping and the unmistakable caramel flavor that only brown sugar can create.
Scale
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs
- ½ cup toasted ground almonds
- 6 Tbs (90g) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
- 1 ½ pounds (700g) cream cheese, room tº
- 8 Tbs (110g) unsalted butter, room tº
- 1 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup cream
- 4 large eggs
For the topping:
- 1 ½ cups sour cream, at room t°
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 4 Tbs bourbon
Instructions
For the crust:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl until it looks like wet sand.
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch (24cm) springform pan with aluminum foil and attach the sides.
- Press cookie mixture onto bottom and up sides of the pan (about 1 inch). Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
For the filling:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF /180ºC.
- In a large bowl beat cream cheese, butter and sugar until completely smooth.
- Add molasses, vanilla, sour cream and cream and beat just until incorporated.
- Add eggs, one at a time, barely waiting for one to incorporate before adding the next one.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Lower oven temperature to 300ºF/150ºC and bake for 40 minutes more. Keep oven on.
- Remove cake and carefully spread topping on. Cheesecake will be wobbly.
- Return to the oven, bake for another 5 minutes and turn the oven off. Leave cheesecake for one hour inside the oven without opening the door.
- Remove to a wire rack, let cool completely, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
For the topping:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
To serve cheesecake:
- Remove sides from springform pan and lift aluminum foil.
- Place cake on serving plate and decorate with nuts or fruits.
- Keep refrigerated.
Notes
- Use a different nut in the crust. Pecans work very well too.
- Change the bourbon for another liquor, or omit it if you prefer. Use milk or 2 tablespoons cream.
- I like to keep it in the refrigerator (well-wrapped) for at least 24 hours before eating it.
- Freeze it up to a month. Well wrapped in plastic and then aluminum.
Keywords: brown sugar cheesecake
a bit adapted from The best American Recipes 2005-2006 by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens
Eonline@themeinerts.com says
April 6, 2016 at 17:52wanted a brown sugar cheesecake to make a praline topping with. Do you think this would work with that topping instead?
wp_vknotes_admin says
April 7, 2016 at 13:55Yes, it will.
jhon miller says
July 13, 2015 at 11:40For the topping, would there be a good way to actually place it over top of the cheesecake…ie., could I spread the topping over the surface of the cheesecake after it's cooked or would it not be firm enough to stay? I am making this for a more formal occassion and I don't want a seperate bowl to serve the topping.
Thankk you
john miller
wp_vknotes_admin says
July 14, 2015 at 12:54The topping is spread on top of the cheesecake and baked for a few more minutes, not in a separate bowl. Thanks!
Anonymous says
December 25, 2013 at 19:07Made this for Christmas and it was phenomenal! Couldn't find molasses in the shops so bought black treacle instead (I'm pretty sure it's the same thing). Thank you so so much.
wp_vknotes_admin says
December 25, 2013 at 21:35Thanks for letting me know. So glad you loved it! I do too!
Sunita Chaudhar says
December 6, 2013 at 09:34oooohhh… This cake looks awesome!!!Lovely recipe!This looks absolutely yummy..Very Nice post. I use to do buy online cheese cake as its time saving.very informative post about cheese cake.thanks for sharing this.
Cannon Scheryl says
September 16, 2013 at 03:18The vanilla with maple syrup sounds delicious, I will give it a try. Thank you Paula, I really think it will be a big hit.