Turtle Cheese Cake

Wow! This cheese cake is what dreams are made of! Rich and creamy, caramel-y and nutty, chocolate-y and crunchy, all wrapped up in one beautiful, decadent dessert! If you need a Valentine's Day dessert, or a blow them away potluck dish, this is the one to make! It can be made ahead of time so you can go into your evening stress free!

INGREDIENTS:
Crust

• 1 c vanilla wafer crumbs
• ½ c pecans, ground
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Filling

• 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 24 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 bricks)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/3  c sugar
• 3 tsp flour
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• ½ c pecans, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 c Caramel Kitchen Salted Caramel Sauce

Topping

• 1 ½ c whole pecans
• Caramel Kitchen Salted Caramel Sauce
• Caramel Kitchen Chocolate Caramel Sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

For Crust: Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9” springform pan. (I use a measuring cup to get an even layer along the edges). Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees.

For Filling: 

1. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler or in microwave at 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Let cool to lukewarm.
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in sugar, flour and vanilla. Continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute more. Gently fold in melted white chocolate.
3. Remove about a cup of the filling and in a small bowl combine it with the melted and cooled semi-sweet chocolate. Pour that filling over the cooled crust.
4. Combine the ½ c chopped pecans, salted caramel sauce and flour in a small bowl. Drop spoonfuls over the chocolate layer in the pan.
5. Pour the remaining white chocolate filling over the pecans and bake for 60-75 minutes, or until the cheesecake is firm around the edges, but slightly jiggly in the center when gently shaken. Cool Completely.
6. For the topping, combine the caramel and pecans in a bowl and microwave for 10-15 seconds until slightly warmed and pourable. Mix well and pour over the top of the cooled cheesecake. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.