Thick, velvety and rich, this king of all pumpkin cheesecakes sits atop a royal crust made of irresistible chocolate cookie. Top it all off with a salted caramel sauce and you’ve got a decadent experience for even the most discerning pumpkin aficionado.
Salted Caramel Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake
Recipe by Jonathan Melendez
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 70 minutes
Cool: 30 minutes
Chill: 1–2 hours
Serves 8–12
For the crust:
25–30 chocolate wafers
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
For the cheesecake:
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk
For the salted caramel:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup toffee pieces
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover the outside of a 10-inch spring-form pan with aluminum foil. Place in the freezer until ready to use.
2. For the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the wafers and sugar. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the butter, and then pulse once more to combine. The resulting mixture should be wet. Pour it into the prepared pan, and press down to form an even crust, just barely coming up the sides of the pan. Place the pan back in the freezer.
3. For the cheesecake: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spice, and stir until evenly combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the milk.
4. For the salted caramel: In a large saucepan, mix the sugar and water until combined, and then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, untouched, for about 3 minutes, or until deep amber in color. Stir in the heavy cream (it will splatter a bit) and continue to whisk until fully combined. Stir in the butter, vanilla and salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
5. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour in half of the caramel on the bottom. Sprinkle with half of the toffee pieces and then pour in the cheesecake batter. Bake for about 70 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center is somewhat firm. (It should still jiggle a bit.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Chill before serving.
6. To serve, pour the remaining salted caramel on top and sprinkle with the remaining toffee pieces. Cut and serve with whipped cream.
