Triple Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 28 ounces caramels
• 2 (10 ounce) cans evaporated milk
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened (tip 1)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature (tip 2)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven at 350°f (tip 3). mix cookie crumbs with melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9-inch spring-form pan (tip 4). bake crust for 10 minutes.
• 2 melt 1/2 of the caramels (14 ounces) with 5 ounces of the evaporated milk over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. pour the melted caramels over the crust. top this with 1 cup of pecans.
• 3 mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla at medium speed until well blended (hint to softened cream cheese place in microwave 15 minutes for each 8 ounce package). add eggs one at a time. mix until just blended after each addition.
• 4 melt 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips and blend into batter. pour batter over pecans.
• 5 bake at 350 degrees f. for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; return cake to oven to cool slowly. cool before removing rim of pan (tip 5). refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
• 6 once cheesecake is completely cool, finish by melt remaining caramels with remaining evaporated milk as describe previously drizzle over the top of the cheesecake. sprinkle remaining pecans over caramel.
• 7 melt remaining dark chocolate chips in double boiler. drizzle over pecans. melt chocolate chips in double boiler. drizzle over dark chocolate. return to refrigerator to set. store leftover cheesecake in the refrigerator. (hint if this is too rich for you, you can cut the toppings in half).
• 8 tips:.
• 9 1. if cream cheese is not softened place unwrapped packaged (8 oz.) in microwave for 15 seconds on high. add 15 seconds for each additional package of cream cheese.
• 10 2. to bring eggs to room temperature quickly put whole eggs in their shells, in a bowl of medium warm tap water for two minutes only. set a kitchen timer to help you keep track of the time. turn the eggs in the water with a spoon during that time. if the egg shells are still cold to the touch, repeat for another 2 minutes. dry them with a towel before cracking.
• 11 3. you need to provide a moist baking environment for the cheesecake. to do this place a 13x9" glass baking pan half filled with tap water on the bottom rack of the oven; preheat oven to desired temperature. bake cheesecake on middle rack of oven above pan of water.
• 12 4. cover the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper to keep cheesecake from sticking.
• 13 5. to remove cheesecake from pan, run knife or metal spatula around the rim again. remove springform rim. cover the top of the cheesecake with a sheet of parchment paper. place a large flat plate that is big enough to cover the whole cheesecake over the top of the cheesecake upside down. invert the cheesecake onto the plate and remove the bottom of the springform pan and the parchment paper off the crust. put the serving platter over the crust and invert again. remove parchment paper.