Turtle Cheesecake

Name: Turtle Cheesecake
Cook time: 90 min
Yield: 1 8-inch cheesecake
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 200g Oreo cookies (crushed); 45g Butter (melted); 452g Cream cheese; 100g Sugar; 2g Kosher salt; 5g Vanilla extract; 130g Heavy cream; 3 eggs; 80g Caramel swirl; 60g Caramel sauce; 40g Chopped pecans; 40g Chocolate sauce; 100g Whipped cream

Description

A decadent cheesecake inspired by turtle candies, featuring an Oreo crust with pecans and caramel, a light caramel cheesecake filling, and a topping of criss-crossed caramel and chocolate sauce with heavily sprinkled toasted pecans. Whipped cream piped around the exterior finishes the presentation.

Special Instructions

For the crust, crush Oreos and mix with melted butter, chopped pecans, and caramel sauce in place of sugar. Press into the pan. Swirl caramel sauce into the cheesecake filling for a light caramel flavor. After the cheesecake is baked and fully chilled, pipe whipped cream around the exterior edge. Drizzle criss-cross strips of both chocolate sauce and caramel sauce (see caramel-sauce sub-recipe) over the top, then sprinkle heavily with toasted pecans.

Recipe

Pan size:

Number of cakes:

Makes 1 × 8″ cheesecake

Topping

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Caramel sauce	60g	Criss-cross strips over the top
Chopped pecans	40g	Toasted, sprinkle heavily
Chocolate sauce	40g	Criss-cross strips over the top
Whipped cream	100g	Pipe around the exterior

Filling

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Cream cheese	452g	2 × 8 oz bricks (Philadelphia)
Sugar	100g
Kosher salt	2g
Vanilla extract	5g
Heavy cream	130g
Eggs	3 eggs
Caramel swirl	80g	Light caramel cheesecake -- swirl caramel sauce into filling

Crust (oreo)

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Oreo cookies (crushed)	200g	About 20 cookies, cream removed
Butter (melted)	45g

Instructions

Make the filling: Let the cream cheese and eggs come to room temperature, then beat the cream cheese and cream until smooth. Mix in sugar, salt, vanilla extract. Add eggs last, mixing just until combined so you don't work extra air into the mixture that will get stuck in the sous vide bag.
Make the crust: Let the butter come to room temperature. Break up oreo a bit, then add them with the butter to a food processor and process until fully integrated. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of your pan — make sure it's well packed with no gaps, or the filling will leak through when you pour it.
Cook: Sous vide at 176°F for 90 minutes. Every 30ish minutes, massage the bag to stir the filling (or stir directly if using an open container). Pay attention to the edges and make sure stirring is complete.
Set: Pour into the mold, then add any solid toppings right away or let the cheesecake cool in the fridge for several hours before adding a gell topping. Ideally, make the cheesecake at least a day before serving so it can set properly.

Caramel Sauce Recipe

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Amount
Sugar	240g
Water	115g
Kosher salt	2g
Heavy cream	225g
Vanilla extract	5g

Instructions

In a 3-quart stainless steel saucier, combine water, sugar, and salt over medium heat. If you like, add an empty vanilla pod, too. Stir with a fork until syrup comes to a boil, about 4 minutes, then simmer without stirring until syrup is honey-colored, roughly 6 minutes, shaking and swirling as needed to ensure even caramelization. Continue cooking until syrup is light to medium amber, a minute more. Immediately add cream and reduce heat to medium-low.
Stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula to knock back the foam, simmer until caramel registers 225°F (107°C) on a digital thermometer, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a heat-resistant container, stir in vanilla extract (if using), and cool to room temperature. (No need to discard the vanilla bean; it will continue to infuse the caramel over time.) Caramel will be runny while warm, but thicken as it cools, turning just a little chewy when cold. Refrigerate up to 1 month in an airtight container.