Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

I got this recipe from My Kitchen Cafe. It was really good. She said she had a little trouble with the caramel. It worked great for me, though, and I think it was because I'm too impatient to use "moderately low" heat. I use "moderately high". And this made a huge 9X13 pan. I don't have a spring form pan, so I used my glass 9X13. She said she would bake in a water bath next time to avoid the top cracking. So I tried that. I baked it in a slightly larger glass pan with water about 1/2 way up the side of my 9X13. The top looked perfect. Her picture is prettier than mine. Go look!


1 crumb-crust recipe (recipe below)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
1/2 cup sour cream3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Make crumb crust as directed in separate recipe, using chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate teddy grahams (I used chocolate graham crackers) instead of graham crackers.Preheat oven to 350°F.Cook sugar in a dry heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork, until melted and pale golden. This step takes a good 10-15 minutes on the stovetop. After the sugar turns pale golden, cook without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Remove from heat and carefully add heavy cream (mixture will vigorously steam and caramel will harden). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until smooth. Stir in sour cream.Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in a water bath in middle of oven 55 minutes or a little longer or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken. Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.) Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. We like to eat it cold. Makes 8 to 10 servings (or alot more, since it is so rich!)

Crumb Crust
3 cups (10 oz) finely ground cookies such as chocolate wafers or chocolate teddy grahams or chocolate graham crackers
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan or a 9X13. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.