Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with chocolate crust and salted caramel

In the last year or so I've been introduced to the genius that is the combination of sweet and salty flavours. I have come to adore chocolate covered pretzels and salted caramel macarons and now this vanilla bean cheesecake with salted caramel is another addition to the list. I thought it would be much harder than it was to make, and while I don't have the presentation down pat (yet) it tasted absolutely divine. It was the perfect birthday 'cake'.

Ingredients:

Crust - 

4 cups chocolate biscuit crumbs (I used chocolate ripple biscuits - about 1 1/2 packs)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup melted butter 

Filling - 

900g cream cheese, softened

1 cup white sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/4 cup milk

Topping - 
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Salted Caramel - 
1 cup white sgar
2 tbsp water
1 cup cream
115g butter
1 tsp fleur de sel (pls 2 tsp more for optional garnish)

Put the biscuits into a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs. Remove the crumbs from the bowl, measure out 4 cups of crumbs and put them back into the food processor. Add the flour and pulse again to combine. Add the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs have the consistency of wet sand.
Press about half of the mixture into the bottom of a spring form pan and then press the rest up the sides of the pan. All of the crumbs should be used for this.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
Pour the milk into a small saucepan with the vanilla bean paste. Heat the milk until hot, but not boiling. Turn off the heat and let the milk and vanilla sit for 15 minutes.
For the filling, place the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer. Add the sugar and beat until combined, and very smooth. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl, and with the mixer on, slowly beat the eggs in one at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the milk mixture and beat until it's all combined, with no lumps.

Pour the filling mixture into the pan with the crust. Place the pan on a cookie sheet lined with foil (you will find that some of the butter from the crust will melt and leak from the pan). Bake for 55mins to 1 hour at 160 degrees Celsius until set but still a little soft and jiggly in the centre.

While the cheesecake is in the oven, mix together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Once the cheesecake is ready, remove from the oven but leave the oven on. After 10 minutes, spread the sour cream mixture on top of the cheesecake and return it to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove the cheesecake again, place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for at least an hour. Refrigerate before serving for at least 4 hours.

Caramel topping - 
In a small saucepan, melt the sugar with the water. Cook over high heat (make sure you don't stir the mixture) until deep amber in colour. Remove from the heat, and carefully whisk in the cream (it will bubble up). Whisk in the butter, and if the caramel has cooled too much to melt the butter, return to a low heat and whisk until it's all incorporated. Whisk in the 1tsp fleur de sel.

Allow the caramel to cool, and pour over the top of the baked and cooled cheesecake. Just before serving, garnish the top with the extra 2tsp of fleur de sel.

Recipe Source:
Adapted from Former Chef's recipe for
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Chocolate crust and salted caramel