with Miso Caramel
I looooove this cheesecake. Obviously I'm a huge coffee fan, and it goes great in a dessert, especially for people who aren't huge fans of super sweet traditional desserts. The flavour of coffee matched with the creaminess of the cream cheese filling and the sweet umami of the miso caramel, it's a dreamy dessert! Read the recipe thoroughly, as caramel can be a little tricky but I'm confident you'll be able to nail it! If you don't want to use miso, you can add a teaspoon of flaky salt to the caramel instead. Enjoy 🥰
Base
100g butter, melted
250g biscuits (I used chocolate digestives)
Filling
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup cream
2 Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
30-60ml very strong espresso OR 1 Tbsp instant coffee (you may want less or more depending on how much you love the taste of coffee)
Caramel
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup cream
1 Tbsp white miso paste
Start with lining the bottom and sides of a 20cm spring-form tin with baking paper.
Melt the butter and crush your biscuits in a food processor, or place them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Transfer biscuits to a bowl and add melted butter. Stir to combine, until it looks like a wet sand consistency. Transfer to lined tin and use a cup to press into the base and 2cm up the sides of the tin, as evenly as possible. Place in freezer to set.
To make the best cream cheese filling, you need to start with soft, room temperature cream cheese. Place it in a large bowl, or bowl of your stand mixer and use electric beaters to beat for about 2 minutes, until softened and there are no lumps, use a spatula to scrape down the sides. Add cream, sugar, salt and coffee to the bowl and continue to whisk for 2-4 minutes, until thickened and there are no lumps. Pour onto prepared base and gently tap the tin on the bench to pop any bubbles and ensure an even layer. Set in the fridge for 4-6 hours.
Make the caramel by placing the sugar and water in a small pot. Place onto medium heat and boil for 7-10 minutes, until the mixture becomes a deep amber colour. It is important when making caramel DO NOT WALK AWAY. Watch it as it cooks as it can change in an instant and leave you with a very burnt pot! Remove pot from heat and (carefully!) add the cream and miso paste and whisk thoroughly, until miso has melted in. Transfer to a jar and set aside to cool at room temperature.
Remove cheesecake from tin and transfer to serving platter. If you plan to serve the cheesecake and finish it in one sitting, you can pour your miso caramel over the whole cake for the beautiful drip affect (you may not need all of the caramel). However, if you plan to savour it a bit at a time, cut a slice first and then drizzle over your caramel. This caramel doesn't like being exposed to the moisture in the fridge, so it will melt off the cheesecake if you put it back in there. Store leftover caramel in a jar which will keep for up to 2 weeks.
C'est finit - bon appetit!
