Candy Bar Cheesecake

I think I might have married an evil genius. After years of pestering him to get a hobby, he takes up baking. Out of all the baking he’s tried his favorite thing to make is cheesecake. And now he decides to make the best possible cheesecake he can imagine: Chocolate cheesecake on a bed of caramel, and topped with a peanut butter ganache. And then for good measure, sprinkled with crumbled up Butterfinger pieces, and drizzled with more caramel. No sense in going halfway, eh?

Candy Bar Cheesecake

Crust:
14 oz graham cracker crumbs
5 oz melted unsalted butter

Caramel:
1/2 lb sugar
1/4 C water
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 T corn syrup
3/4 C heavy cream
1 oz unsalted butter

Cheesecake:
3 lbs cream cheese
2 lbs chocolate, melted
12 oz sugar
2 oz cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla
5 eggs
2 egg yolks

Peanut Butter Ganache:
1 C Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 – 1/2 C heavy cream
2 lbs powdered sugar

Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the butter, and press into the bottom and sides of a 10″ springform pan.

Make the caramel sauce. Put the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add corn syrup and cook until the syrup turns golden. Take the pan off the heat and slowly add the heavy cream. Stir, returning to the heat if you need to work out any lumps. Add the butter with the pan off the heat, stir until the sauce is smooth. Pour the sauce into the pan, on top of the crumbs.

Mix the cheesecake batter. Blend the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth, then add the cornstarch and vanilla. Add in the melted chocolate and stir to combine. Add in the eggs a couple at a time, blending thoroughly, but don’t over mix or the cheesecake will be dry. Pour the batter on top of the caramel.

Bake at 350 F until the cheesecake is set, which should take around 40 minutes. Let cool thoroughly.

Make the peanut butter ganache. Blend the ingredients together, adding more cream and sugar as necessary to make it as sweet as you like, while still being creamy enough to spread without tearing the cake. The exact measurements will depend on how sweet the peanut butter started, and how sweet you want it to be. Spread onto the cooled cake. Top with candy and more caramel sauce if you’re a total glutton like us.

Bear makes a lot of amazing things, but this one has totally blown my mind. All those years of chemistry classes ended up actually paying off, and now I’m married to a guy who comes up with stuff like this. I think this might be the point where he crosses the line of using his powers for good. This cheesecake might be so good it’s a weapon.