What’s better than cheesecake? Cheesecake plus caramel plus chocolate plus Oreos plus roasted almonds – turtle cheesecake. And you know what? Surprisingly easy to make. So let’s get right to it:
YOU WILL NEED:
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 2 cups chopped/crumbled Oreos
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 14 oz caramel
- 5 oz evaporated milk
- 24 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
YOU WILL NEED TO:
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Spread pecans out on a cookie sheet; bake at 350 for about 6 minutes. They will burn very quickly after 6 minutes. Take them out; set them aside.
- (Keep the oven on)
- Melt butter in a smallish saucepan; mix together with the Oreo crumbs. (I used a hand chopper to crunch them up.)
- Press Oreo/butter mix into the bottom of a BUTTERED spring form pan. (you could use Crisco instead, I guess.) Put the pan on a cookie sheet; bake for about 10 minutes in your already hot 350 degree oven. Take out; let cool.
- Now you have to melt the caramel. I used a bag of those individually wrapped caramels – such a pain to unwrap all of them (which is why I asked Mary to do it…). Anyway, you have to melt them in some kind of double boiler – I like to use a glass bowl sitting inside a saucepan above boiling water.
- Melt the caramels together with the evaporated milk. This takes about half an hour, and you will probably burn your hands on the steam. Have fun!
- Pour about 3/4 of the SMOOTH melted caramel on top of the cooled Oreo crust. Sprinkle about 1/2 of the pecans on top of the caramel.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar – use an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla. Mix it up.
- Now, add the eggs, and again – mix until smooth.
- Use a different double boiler to melt the chocolate (I find that it helps to add some butter to the chocolate – keeps it smooth. If you get any water in the chocolate, it gets all grainy), and add about 3/4 of the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture. Mix it in as well as you like – a marble texture might look nice here. I went ahead and fully mixed it in.
- Pour your cheesecake batter on top of the crust in the spring form pan.
- Put the pan (still on top of the cookie sheet) in the (already hot!) 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. I’d check it at 35. Keep in mind that cheesecake is weird – it will not look like normal cake. It should be a little jiggly, and seem like it’s barely set. If you keep it in too long, the top will start to crack. If you see cracks – take it out! You’ve cooked it too long, but it will probably be ok.
If you see cracks AND black, crusty cheesecake batter – take it out! You’ve ruined it.
If you see cracks AND black, crusty cheesecake batter AND fire spewing up through the cracks – leave it in! You’ve opened a portal to the nether dimensions and you should probably sell your house. - Take out your glorious creation. Admire it. Now, sprinkle the rest of the roasted pecans on top. Add the rest of the caramel (you might need to re-melt it) and chocolate (again with the re-melting). Look how pretty it is.
- Now put it in the fridge. You need to chill this bad boy overnight before you even think about cutting into it. It will goo everywhere if you don’t. Leave it on the cookie sheet also. Spring form pans tend to leak a bit – you might end up with melted butter from the crust on the bottom of your fridge.
- (the next day) Take your cheesecake to your function of choice and bask in the warm glow of a cake well-cooked. Enjoy the praise from your friends and family. Be prepared to be in charge of dessert from here on out.
*A side note – it is a little hard to get the sides of the spring form pan off due to the caramel and chocolate being so sticky. A way around this might be to add them after you cook and chill the entire cheesecake – take the pan sides off, and then add your caramel, etc.
Here is another one I made – this time, with less chocolate on the top. A little nicer-looking, maybe.
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