Salted caramel cheesecake, a unique and delicious no-bake dessert that is quick to prepare. No baking is needed if you purchase the salted caramel instead of making it yourself. It’s certainly not challenging to prepare the salted caramel, and you can even do it the day before: it keeps in the refrigerator for several days, if you can manage to wait.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to prepare the cheesecake with caramel
- 200 cookies
- 80 g butter
- 250 g mascarpone (or philadelphia)
- 250 g fresh whipping cream
- 30 g powdered sugar
- 6 g gelatin sheets
- 100 g whole hazelnuts
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 40 g sugar
- 25 g butter
- 55 g liquid fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Tools
- Springform Pan
- Chopper
- Frying Pan
- Bowl
- Saucepan
- Wooden Spoon
- Cup
- Pastry Ring
Steps
To prepare the salted caramel cheesecake, there’s no baking, except for the caramel, of course, which I describe below.
In a pan, place the sugar and, on very low heat, wait for it to slowly melt. Do not stir it, but gently shake the pan if needed.
Once all the sugar has melted and has taken on a nice amber color, at that point, add the butter with a wooden spoon and let it melt.
Now you just need to add the cream and, once cooked, off the heat, add some coarse salt crystals.
Here is your salted caramel ready to be used immediately.
For the first step, chop the cookies and mix them with the melted butter. (In a cup, melt the butter in the microwave for 60 seconds). Place the cookies with the butter in a pastry ring with an 18 cm opening directly on the serving plate. Flatten to form the cheesecake base with the back of a spoon, chill it in the refrigerator for an hour, and meanwhile, prepare the cream.
Soak the gelatin in cold water until it softens, which will take about ten minutes. Take two tablespoons of fresh cream and heat it in a saucepan, at that point, dissolve the now-softened gelatin.
In a large bowl, whip the cream with the powdered sugar and incorporate the mascarpone and the cream with now lukewarm gelatin. Add a couple of tablespoons of salted caramel, and the cheesecake cream is ready.
Remove the cookie base from the fridge and spread the cream evenly over it without removing the pastry ring. Put it back in the fridge and let it rest for another hour.
Before serving the cheesecake, remove the pastry ring and pour the salted caramel over the cream and decorate with caramelized hazelnuts.
Advice
If you want to prepare the caramelized hazelnuts yourself, I am adding here the recipe for caramelized almonds: just replace the nuts according to your preference, the process is the same for both almonds and hazelnuts.
https://blog.giallozafferano.it/vaipinacucina/mandorlato-siciliano-ecco-la-ricetta/
https://blog.giallozafferano.it/vaipinacucina/mandorlato-siciliano-ecco-la-ricetta/
FAQ
How do you make caramelized hazelnuts?
To prepare caramelized hazelnuts, use the same method as for almonds. In a pan with sugar and a bit of water, toast them, and meanwhile, the sugar melts and then solidifies to caramelize around the hazelnuts.
Sicilian nougat is a whole log: how do I divide it to make caramelized hazelnuts?
At the end of the Sicilian nougat recipe (which you prepare with hazelnuts), you just need to leave them separated instead of joining them into a log, and with the help of a fork, separate them.
