CHOCOLATE Friday ~ Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

Welcome to the end of the week!  Let's celebrate with a bit of chocolate!  You deserve it - I'm certain!  :)  On Fridays, I like to share something chocolatey and you get to link up your chocolate posts - the more the merrier!

Today I'll share the dessert I made for my wedding anniversary.  I gave my hubs a couple of choices and he picked this cheesecake.  Since the recipe included caramel and brownies, I thought I would go all out and make the brownies and the caramel from scratch!  I used the brownies I shared last week and the caramel sauce I posted on Tuesday - yum!!

This cheesecake is super rich as you can imagine and I'm really glad that we gave most of it away so we didn't consume all those extra calories.  It was yummy though!  We enjoyed it!  Give it a try for a special occasion!  I found the recipe in my cute little Cafe Nervosa (from the show Frasier) cookbook.

Mix crushed vanilla wafers and butter.

 

The crust is ready!

Pour the delicious homemade caramel sauce on the bottom.

Crumble up the homemade brownies and cover the caramel.

Pour in the batter - ready to bake.

Just out of the oven!

Warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle, and drool!

Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

1 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 batch homemade Caramel Sauce*
2 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled Basic Fudge Brownies**
3 (8-oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and butter; firmly press into bottom and 1-2 inches up sides of lightly greased 9-in. springform pan.  Bake at 350  for 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

Make caramel sauce; reserving a small amount to drizzle later.  Pour caramel sauce over crust.  Sprinkle crumbled brownies over caramel.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes or til fluffy.  Gradually add brown sugar, mixing well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg just until blended.  Stir in sour cream and vanilla.  Pour batter over brownies.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until almost set.  Remove from oven; cool on wire rack.  Cover and chill at least 4 hours.  Remove sides of pan.

*Instead of homemade caramel sauce, can use 1 (14-oz) pkg caramels and 1 (5-oz) can evaporated milk.  Combine in small saucepan; cook over low, stirring often, until caramels melt.

**Can use any brownie recipe, mix, or purchase unfrosted brownies.

Cheesecake tips:
 ~ Wrap the bottom of the pan in foil.  If the crust is very buttery, drips of butter will fall onto the bottom of the oven and start smoking.  I forgot about that and it happened to me again this time!
 ~ Be careful not to over-mix.  I did a bit and ended up with a bubble on top of my cheesecake.
 ~ When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, run a knife carefully around the edge so it won't crack as it cools.

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What do you think?  Does it sound good to you?  Are you going to give it a try?  Do you have a yummy dessert that you make for special occasions?

Do you have a chocolate post to link up?  It can be new or old and doesn't even have to be a recipe, just family-friendly and something to do with chocolate!  I hope you'll find something to link up today so we can all share the chocolatey goodness!  If you don't have a blog, share your favorite chocolate recipe or link in the comments!

Have a chocolatey day friends!