Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups ~ Nudging its way into the salted caramel craze these individual cheesecake cups are topped with a salted caramel sauce and sprinkled with some sea salt for a final touch.
Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups
Seems like everywhere you look salted caramel is making its mark on cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, candies and pretty much any conceived dessert.My first experience with it was in the form of a truffle and I’ve been a fan of the salted caramel pairing every since.
These Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups along with my Mini White Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecakes were two of three desserts that I was preparing for a now cancelled wedding.
That being said, there is still 11 lbs of the original 12lbs of cream cheese for the now defunct wedding sitting in my refrigerator. So if you have any request or ideas for cream cheese recipes, please be so kind and pass them along.
A few notes:
1. You can prepare the cheesecake and caramel sauce a day ahead. If you do so re-heat the sauce in your microwave and assemble prior to serving.
2. The times as written in the recipe for the caramel sauce are approximate because not all pots heat up exactly the same.
3. Do not to use a nonstick pan when making your caramel sauce. Color is everything and a black nonstick surface will make it hard to gauge when your sauce is ready based on the sugar turning from white to a dark amber color.
4. Do NOT stir the sugar and water mixture once it starts to boil. Instead gently swirl the pan.
5. Sugar burns very quickly, so keep a watchful eye as the sugar moves from dissolved to caramel.
6. Most importantly, DO NOT put HOT caramel up to your tongue or lips to taste. That is, unless you want to severely burn yourself.
Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups
{Printer Version}
Preheat oven to 275° F.
Ingredients:
Cheesecake Cups:
31/2 ounces of vanilla wafers
4 tablespoon of butter
16 oz cream cheese
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
Salted Caramel Sauce:
5 tablespoons water
3/4 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS:
Crust:
1. Process vanilla wafers until it resembles fine sand. Add melted butter and process until combined. Divide among cupcake liners. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Cheesecake:
1. Beat cheese and sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in one egg at a time, taking care not to overbeat.
4. Fill cupcake liners ¾ of the way full.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.
While the cheesecake cups are cooling make the caramel sauce.
Salted Caramel Sauce:
1. Add water and sugar into a saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Use a wet brush to remove any crystals that form on the side.
2. Increase heat to high. Now and then, using the handle give the pot a swirl to keep the mixture moving. Do not stir the mixture directly. The mixture will start to bubble after a minute. (see #5 in picture panel)
3. After approximately 3 minutes you will see a light shade of amber. (see #6 in picture panel)
4. Another 30-90 seconds and the mixture will turn a dark shade of amber. (see#7 in picture panel)
5. Once the mixture is a dark amber, turn off the heat and add the cream. Whisk to combine, do not worry about the bubbles as they will subside upon cooling. (see #7,8, 9 in picuture panel)
6.Cool to warm and pour sauce over cheesecake cups.
7. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Welcome to my cozy corner where baking meets random thoughts and musings. I’m a self-taught baker sharing all things sweet (and some savory—okay, and cocktails) with a whisk in one hand and a camera in the other. 
Those look wonderful!
.-= Cherine´s last blog ..Kafta kebabs =-.
What beautiful, bright photos!! I love the process photos with numbers on the side. I wish I could do that!
I love salted caramel and these look absolutely gorgeous.
As for ideas to use up cream cheese – cookie pops, cheesecake brownies, creamy pasta sauce… do keep us posted with what you decide to make with it!
.-= Su-yin´s last blog ..Peanut butter cookies =-.
Hi Naomi! Ooh I love salted caramels and these look so good!
Oh and about the heap of cream cheese you have to use up, I don’t like cheesecake so I rarely ever make them but I do have quite a good recipe for carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting (http://eatandbehappy.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/cleaning-out-the-fridge-part-ii/). Hope that helps you out a little!
Wow, I have got to try those! Your pictures of the finished product and the process are great!
Too bad about the wedding being canceled. Looks like they are missing out on some luscious cheesecake. You can make a great alfredo sauce with cream cheese. You could also make cream cheese pound cake, that would freeze well.
.-= Barbara Bakes´s last blog ..Tropical Granola =-.
I love salted anything, but these look just delicious.
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Strawberry shortcake =-.
Wow, these look fab! Wishing I had one with me right now.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Double The Chocolate Banana Muffins =-.
These cupcakes look delicious. Salted caramel is one of my favorite indulgences.
I made a New York cheesecake not so long ago that used 2 1/2 lb of cream cheese! It might make a (small) dent in your stash…
These look absolutely delicious. I was given a large box of salted caramels for Christmas at work this year and I had a very hard time sharing them. It’s one of my favorite flavor combinations.
About the cream cheese… you could make the cheesecakes and then freeze them. My Mom used to have a bakery that specialized in cheesecake and she frequently froze the cakes. Also, you can use a nice dollop of cream cheese in a scone sandwich. Check out my latest post: http://tryityoumightlikeit.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/herb-onion-scones/
.-= Janna M´s last blog ..Herb & Onion Scones =-.
Eleven pounds of cream cheese in your fridge? Whoa! Talk about a rich stash! 😉
Looks like you put some of it to very tasty use in this. Love the combo of salt and caramel. So irresistible.
Oh my gosh, these look amazing! I made my first salted caramel recipe last week, salted caramel chocolate cupcakes. I love the flavor combo. And this gives cheesecake a little portion control in their individual liners. Love these!!
These look wonderful and my son asked me to make them, but the recipe says 5 TBSP cups water???? It looks like more than 5 tbsp water in the pic, not sure??
Naomi replied: — May 28th, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
The five tablespoons of water will evaporate.It is the whipping cream that will give it the caramel syrup consistency.
These look fantastic, I can’t wait to make them. Quick questions, are these regular sized cupcakes, and about how many did the recipe make?
Naomi replied: — June 12th, 2010 @ 5:29 am
Hi Jessie,
Yes, they are regular cheesecake cups. It makes one dozen.
Thanks for stopping and commenting.
Naomi
Finally made these yesterday. They got the most compliments of anything I’ve baked for my coworkers. Thanks for such an awesome recipe!!!
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe!! I just tried to make the sauce but I only have non-stick pans and you were right, I couldn’t guage the color and my caramel never got dark. Also it’s very soupy, not hard. Did I just not let it stay on the stove long enough? Can I now fix this mixture by putting it back on the stove? Thanks!! Elisabeth
Naomi replied: — July 4th, 2010 @ 6:35 am
Yes, you didn’t leave it on long enough. You can put it back on, just be sure to your heat is on low when you go to re-heat. It will also harden as it cools in the liner. Email at bakersroyale@yahoo.com if you need more help.
A few more questions about the outcome of these…
How do you know when cheesecakes cups are done in the oven? Can you do a toothpick test with Cheesecake?
How do you take the cupcakes out of the papers – mine were kind of hard to eat because the caramel was so sticky (but good!) and stuck to the papers.
Thanks!
Superb recipe, worked so well! Thank you!!!
If you put this in the refrigerator would the caramel harden and be difficult to eat?