12 days of Christmas treats: traditional carol edition
day 2 – two turtle doves cheesecake
don’t you love when all roads lead to cheesecake??
Two turtle doves….hmmmm I have not graduated to making turtle soup or anything with doves, so that means that all roads lead to cheesecake! It would not be the holidays at our house without a celebratory cheesecake. For Christmas, we usually bake a pomegranate cranberry cheesecake, but why not switch things up with a turtle cheesecake this year? Chocolate turtles conjure up sweet melty and rich caramel coated pecans dipped in the best chocolate you have ever tasted. What’s not to love about that?? Especially since the holidays = decadence in every recipe that comes out of my kitchen.
what do think of when you think of cheescake??
Creamy dreamy cheesecake is hard to beat. Whenever I think of cheesecake, I think of a buttery graham cracker crust, a creamy cheesecake center, and an exquisite topping. With these thoughts in mind, it is time to bump things up for the holidays! Most cheesecakes begin with the crust, and I thought it would be especially scrumptious to make a buttery gingersnap one. It will make us think of all of the gingerbread houses we have been dreaming of. The creamy cheesecake center is hard to beat, so that will stay true to my favorite cheesecake recipe. It is cold, creamy, and decadent which checks all of the boxes in my book! All that is left is the turtle topping.
did someone say crunchy and buttery?
Turtles always begin with fresh crispy pecans. I wanted to create a crunchy, buttery, and caramely pecan brittle that could be broken into all different sizes for decorating the edge of the cheesecake. Fair warning, you may want to bump up the quantities of this part of the recipe for all of the little elves that may want to sample some before they adorn the cheesecake. All that is left to turtle up this cheesecake are the rich chocolate and mouthwatering caramel drizzle sauces.
could this be our new favorite cheesecake??
The chocolate sauce is a traditional ganache with an espresso addition, because coffee and chocolate mixed together is always a hit! The rich caramel sauce has a few splashes of Kahlua so that it can compete with its chocolate fudgy friend. Suddenly we have a new favorite Christmas cheesecake on our hands. The combined flavors of the gingersnap crust, creamy center, and three home run toppings come together to make a turtle’s dream come true!
two turtle doves cheesecake
buttery gingersnap crust filled with creamy dreamy cheesecake and topped with crunchy pecan brittle, chocolate espresso sauce and kahlua caramel sauce!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 9” cheesecake 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: mix and bake
Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/4 cups of gingersnap cookie crumbs. Alternatively you may use one package of biscoff “airline” cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter melted
Cheesecake filling:
32 oz. cream cheese softened
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla
1 TB kahlua
Topping:
2 cups of sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Kahlua
2 TB sugar
Buttery pecan brittle;
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole pecans
Chocolate sauce:
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I like ghiradelli)
1/3 cup espresso chocolate chips (I like Nestle)
Caramel sauce:
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup brown sugar
2 TB Kahlua
Instructions
preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Make the crust:
Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl with a spoon until well combined
Pat on the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ spring form pan – set aside
Filling:
Cream the cheese until light and fluffy
Add remaining filling ingredients and mix just until combined
Bake for 35 minutes
Remove from oven and raise oven temperature to 400 degrees
Combine sour cream topping ingredients and spread on top of cheesecake
Bake for 10 minutes
Remove from oven – cool – refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight
Turtle toppings:
Buttery pecan brittle:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat
Add brown sugar and cook until sugar is disolved
Add whole pecans and continue to cook – stirring frequently so the pecans do not burn
Cook until caramel colored
Pour out on a sheet of parchment to cool
When cool break into chunks to decorate the edge of the cheesecake
Chocolate and Caramel sauce:
Pour 1 carton (2 cups) whipping cream in a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until warm and frothy
Place 2 kinds of chocolate chips in a medium bowl
Pour 1 cup of hot whipping cream over the chocolate
Stir to melt chocolate and create a sauce
Caramel:
Keep reserved 1 cup of hot whipping cream in saucepan
Add 1 cup brown sugar
Cook, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved
Add Kahlua and continue to cook until caramel colored
Remove cheesecake from refrigerator
Remove spring form pan clasp
Place on desired serving platter
Arrange buttery pecan brittle chunks around the edge of the cheesecake
Drizzle chocolate espresso sauce over the top and down the sides of the cheesecake
Drizzle caramel kahlua sauce over the top and down the sides of the cheesecake
Keywords: cheesecake pecan chocolate caramel
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