If you like the combination of sweet and salty, you will love this delicious Salted Caramel Cheesecake!
And if caramel is your thing, I also recommend my Chocolate Caramel Cake as well as my Perfect Crème Caramel.
Read on how to make this wonderful cheesecake at home by yourself!
A quick look at the recipe
Classic baked Vanilla Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce.
- ⏱️ Preparation time: 30 min
- 🔥 Baking temperature: 320℉ (160 ℃)
- ⏲️ Baking time: 90 min
- ⏳ Cooling Time: 6 h
- 🥘 Pan size: 9 inch/ 23 cm - use a different size
- 👥 Servings: 12
- 🫙How to store: 3-4 days in the fridge
Analyze and summarize on:
Why is this recipe so good
- This is a classic cheesecake made with sour cream and cream cheese. It has a very nice texture and is not too sweet.
- The topping is the "real deal" which makes this dessert unique. Caramel is so good with salt and it is really like the cherry of the cake in this case.
- It's perfect both for holidays and weekend treats.
- Almost everyone falls in love with it from the first bite.
- It also works beautifully with other toppings (or even plain) thanks to the special sour cream layer that keeps it fresh and crack-free.
What ingredients you'll need
For the cheesecake:
- Melted butter and cookies for the crust: you can use Biscoff caramel cookies (biscuits), chocolate ones such as Oreo, or plain if that's all you have.
- Cream cheese: it must be at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes in advance.
- White sugar: for sweetness and stability
- 3 large eggs: to give structure to the cheesecake
- Sour cream: for moisture
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
For the caramel:
Sugar, heavy cream, and salt: just three ingredients to make a wonderful caramel sauce you can use for many desserts.
Preparation summary
The cheesecake itself is made in the classic way:
- Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla;
- Add the eggs and mix at a slower speed very shortly.
- Then pour the mixture over the cookie-butter crust in a springform pan.
How do you make the topping from scratch
If you've never made caramel sauce before, you'll be surprised how easy it is. Just follow a few simple steps:
- Caramelize the sugar in a saucepan.
- Add the heavy cream and stir over low heat until smooth.
- Finish with sea salt. That's it!
How to bake the cheesecake
It's best to bake the cheesecake in a water bath at a lower temperature than cakes - I use 160°C (320°F). It takes a bit of time, but I promise it's worth it.
The easiest method: place a tray of water on the rack below the cheesecake. The steam keeps the filling moist and silky.
Alternatively, you can put the cheesecake pan directly into the water bath - that's the classic method which is claimed to result in the best texture.
The cheesecake is ready when the edges turn slightly golden and the center is set but still a bit wobbly when shaken.
Top Tips
Beat the eggs only briefly, just until combined. Overbeating can cause the cheesecake to puff up and crack like a soufflé during baking.
Always wrap your springform pan well with aluminum foil before baking! Melted butter from the crust often leaks and can make a mess in the oven if the pan isn't well wrapped.
Did you like this recipe? Let me know in the comments what you think! And if you enjoyed this post, please share the link!
You may also want to check some of my other cheesecake recipes:
📝 Recipe
Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Topping
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- ¼ cup/ 60 g melted butter
- 7 oz/ 200 g chocolate cookies, approximately (see notes)
For the Filling:
- 21 oz/ 600 g cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup/ 200 g sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ⅔ cups 400 g sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Salted Caramel sauce:
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ⅞ cup 200 ml heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Cover the bottom of a springform pan with a circle of 9 inch baking paper. Grease lightly the pan.
Crust:
- In a food processor or blender grind the cookies to fine crumbs. Combine with the butter and mix well together. Transfer to the springform pan and press with your hands until sides and bottom are evenly coated with crust. Place in the fridge or in the freezer to chill while preparing the cheesecake filling.
Filling:
- Preheat oven to 320°F/ 160°C.
- Combine cream cheese with ⅔ cup sugar, vanilla and ⅔ cup sour cream and mix with a mixer until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and beat at a low speed for a very short time, until combined.
- Pour the filling on top of the crust in the pan. Place a big pan filled with cold water on the bottom of the oven. Wrap the pan in 2-3 sheets of aluminum foil and place it on the oven rack, above the pan with the water.
- Bake the cheesecake for about 1,5 h or until the top becomes golden around the edges and when you shake it, there is a small part inside that is still liquid.
- Mix the rest of the sugar and sour cream and spread the mixture on top of the cheesecake. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- Turn the oven off and leave it slightly open. Leave the cheesecake rest for 40 minutes in the cooling oven. Remove from the oven and cool until room temperature. Transfer to the fridge and leave it there for at least 6 hours.
- Serve with the cooled salted caramel.
Topping:
- To make the caramel, put the sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat and whisk it until it starts caramelizing. When the colour of the caramel becomes medium amber remove from heat. Pour the heavy cream in the pan with the caramel.
- Return to the heat and stir the caramel until it's all dissolved in the cream. Remove from heat and add salt. Stir again.
- Let chill for at least ½ hour at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge for around 4 hours before topping the cheesecake.
Notes
- Best cookies for this recipe: Biscoff Lotus cookies Oreo, chocolate wafers, chocolate graham crackers.
- You can also bake the cheesecake in the classic way by placing it directly into the pan filled with water. The water should cover ⅓ to ½ of the springform pan. In this case you need to be extra thorough when wrapping the pan with aluminium foil.
- If you are in a rush, you can skip the water bath and/ or increase the temperature to 360 degrees F/ 180 degrees C. You need to be careful not to overbake the cheesecake to avoid the texture becoming dry.
- You may not need to use the whole caramel sauce for this recipe. Preserve some for later in a jar in the fridge and you can use it within 1-2 weeks for other desserts.
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