Bacon Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

Teehee...sometimes I like to think of myself as a cooking-villain. Like just when you commit to having that iceberg lettuce salad for dinner, I swoop in and drop a perfectly grilled Angus beef burger in your lap, zap it to add melted brie, mushrooms, and bacon, and you'll forget all about the leafy, boring culinary mistake you were about to make.

So, what's a villain to do when "Jenny Bakes" of the Daring Bakers challenges her to take a classic cheesecake recipe and make it her own? (Thanks for a wonderful April Daring Bakers Challenge, Jenny!) Cover it in bacon fat, of course! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!To be honest, the bacon is pretty subtle in this recipe. (Drat!) Every once in awhile you get a definitively meaty bite in the crust or the chocolate candy drizzle, but it just adds a smoky richness to the caramel sauce that tastes nothing like your Sunday bacon n' eggs breakfast.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abby's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
Jenny Bakes of the Daring Bakers & BaconConcentrate Present:

Abby's Infamous Cheesecake with a Bacon Crust and Bacon Turtle Topping:

Crust:
2 cups Low-Fat Graham Cracker Crumbs (cookie must be low-fat to avoid soggy crust)
2 Tbs. Butter, melted
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup extra-crispy Bacon Crumbles
1/2 cup ground Almonds

Cheesecake:
24 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
1 Tbs. Vanilla Extract
1 Tbs. Bourbon

Bacon Turtle Topping:
1 cup Sugar
1 Tbs. water
3 Tbs. cold Bacon Fat (drained and chilled until solid after cooking the bacon)
1 Tbs. Butter
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 package of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup extra-crispy Bacon Crumbles

Make the Cheesecake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. (Use enough of the crust ingredients to make the crust 1/4 inch deep). Hello, lovah!
Tap your crust with an empty drinking glass for an even texture. It should be fairly dry...the bacon will render some fat into the crust as it bakes, and anything else will result in the dreaded soggy-crust. Doesn't my thumb look gross in this picture? I'm a hobbit!
Cover and store the extra crust crumbs in the refrigerator.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl and cream together with a hand mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles. If using a springform pan, place the pan into the center of the oven, and place 3 smaller cake pans around and under the cheesecake. Fill the empty cake pans with boiling water. (Ok, ok, or use a true water bath. Hate, hate water baths.) If using a foil baking dish, insert into a larger cake pan and fill the outside, empty pan with boiling water.5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes. The edges will be set, but the center will have alot of jiggle to it and will appear uncooked. Carefully run a knife around the edges to release the cake and avoid cracking. Without removing the cake, close the oven door and turn it off; let the cake rest for one hour. Remove it, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

After the cheesecake has cooled overnight, remove it from the springf orm pan, press the remaining crust crumbs into the sides of the cheesecake, and place on your serving plate. Mr. CheesecakeFace looks on disapprovingly, and says "You should have used a true water bath, E.Lee"Make Bacon Caramel Sauce:

Stir together sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a shallow sauce pan. It should be dry and crumbly. Cook the sugar/water over medium-high heat. Gently stir the grainy sugar mixture into the sugar that is melting in the center of the pan.
Shake the pan rather than stirring after all the sugar has melted, and bring to a boil. Let boil until amber in color. Add the bacon grease and butter. Gratuitous bacon fat picture below, just for Liza Jane and PapayaBlue. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Let the sauce thicken for 20 minutes, then pour over the top of your cheesecake, letting some pool in the middle.

Make Bacon Chocolate Drizzle:

Microwave the chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir until all of the chips are melted. If some pieces remain, microwave for another 30 seconds and stir.

Carefully fill a piping bag with the melted chocolate and decorate your cake. Sprinkle the bacon pieces onto the chocolate immediately. The chocolate will harden into a bacon-candy shell once cooled.
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33 comments:

  1. Whoa this really is "hedonism at its finest"!!!!! What an insanely creative way to adjust a cheesecake recipe. Brilliant!!! By the way, love the mr. cheesecake face.

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  2. Wow, your cheesecake is stunning! I love that combination of scrumptious flavors! Marvelous!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. Beautiful cheesecake the bacon component is very interesting! :)

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  4. Hi, thanks for stopping by and commenting on my mango cheesecake. I am SO proud of it -- or was anyway because it's been eaten. Love the point of view of your blog. As we say in our house, "pork is nature's candy!" Have you ever made a bacon-wrapped meatloaf? I'm not sure if you can open this if you're not on Facebook, but here's a link to the meatloaf: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=44367844066&id=1166030946&ref=share

    You'll see this is in the early days when I didn't realize pictures were so important. :)

    And I do love Frank's red hot sauce!

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  5. Wow. Bacon cheesecake? It looks beautiful. Bacon rules but I never would've thought of putting it in my cheesecake. Nice work :)

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  6. Hmm.. bacon.. this is definitely a first. I'm intrigued. Love your decoration. Great job!

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  7. Wow! It turned out great, your photos makes me want to take a not too little piece. ;-)

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  8. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. I just saw your wonderful blog of bacon goodness on tastespotting and I am just drooling! I love bacon, in anything!!!! I made bacon chocolate chip cookies not too long ago and have been dying to try my next sweet bacon dessert. THIS IS IT!!!!

    YAY!!!!

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  9. I had to look twice in case I had read the title wrongly. What a twist to a cheesecake ... great job!

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  10. Amazing cheesecake! Would love a piece!

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  11. I don't know what to say about all the bacon-y goodness you have incorporated into your inspired cheesecake. I just love Mr Cheesecake's 'smile' fabulous job on this challenge. Cheers from Australia Audax

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  12. hmm...the bacon is throwing me off, but I don't know why when bacon and cheese go so well together for savory dishes. The presentation of your cheesecake is out of this world. Well done!

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  13. Ok, that's the next cheesecake I'm making. Great idea and good looking. Nice recovery from the crack. Well done!!

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  14. Mmm, your cheesecake looks amazing!! The flavours sound wonderful!!

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  15. It's such an ingenious combination of flavors. Beautiful cake!

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  16. Oooo...bacon!! A little salty, a little sweet...it's gotta be YUMMY & sinful! ;P But who cares when it's BACON?! I LOVE B.A.C.O.N (I'd probably nibble all the bacon when u prepare the crust!!!! :P BTW, love the "Mr.cheesecakeFace"! :)

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  17. Bacon! You are a genius! I love everything about it!

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  18. Hahah, thanks for all the Bacon Love! As Ninette says, it IS nature's candy. :) If you're reading these comments, click on the commenter's profiles to see their lovely Daring Bakers' cheesecake challenges and spread the love. This is my first DB challenge, and I'm already overwhelmed by the talent in this group of bakers!

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  19. There are no words. Seriously, this is... wow. I think you just broke me? :-)

    Thanks so much for your creativity in this challenge - seriously, this is above and beyond. I don't exactly know if I'd like it, but for the sake of bacon (a representative of all that is good in the universe) I would definitely try it.

    -"Infamous" Abbey

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  20. GORGEOUS< and definately the oddest combo I've seen!!

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  21. This is genius! The moment I read the description, I could taste it . . . I've been craving sweet and savory together but my take has been adding fruit to a meat dish, not vice versa. I see the light and it looks like bacon . . .

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  22. This cheesecake looks and sounds so amazingly good!

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  23. I'm still commenting on the thousands of blogs from this challenge, but I can't believe I missed yours. I laughed so hard when I saw that you had added bacon to this. I mean, I knew the vegans would have a challenge ahead of them because it is dairy-focused, and then you went and added bacon. Hehe. Surprisingly, this sounds good to me. I'm a sucker for salty/sweet/smoky combos.

    Jenny of JennyBakes

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  24. Delicious looking and delicious tasting too. I have made this kind of cake many times before with different variations. This is pure delight and I'm sure to make it again.

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  25. This looks really great! I'll have to talk Uncle G into trying this. You'll have to talk to him about how to not get cracks in the cheesecake. Great drizzle job too. Love ya, Auntie N.

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  26. I just finished making this cake this morning for a meat themed night tonight. It looks spectacular and if it tastes even half as good as it looks, it's going to be a total hit!! Thank you for your inspiring recipe!!

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  27. I made this cheesecake and it was a hit! It was my first cheesecake and it turned out beautifully. Thanks!

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  28. Having a snack with this Bacon Crust and Bacon Turtle Topping is definitely a good way to start the afternoon. I will be excited if I have a snack prepared with bacon crust and bacon topping. Incredible recipe. I have gathered a lot of recipes from bacon ingredients and this is one of my choice.

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  29. I'm a vegetarian (just got into the groove of not munching on friday-night-chicken-leftovers all weekend), and if there was any bacon within non getting dressed distance, that would have been out the window. you are so incredibly creative. i wish i had half the culinary genius you do!

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