Turtle Cheesecake

For my sister's birthday, I decided to bake a turtle cheesecake pie.  I wrote the recipe on my notebook.  I can't remember where I copied it though.  Origami piglet and kitties supplied by my sister.

I measured out pecans and chopped them.  While I was busy doing that, Nards unwrapped caramels.  (Half of what the recipe needed.)

I asked him to nuke it in the microwave on 30 second intervals, mixed it with milk until it was creamy.  Then he took the coarsely chopped pecans and stirred it in the caramel.  Next time, I must add more milk and opt for a more runny consistency instead of creamy.  The caramel nut layer on the finished pie, was way too sweet.

Crust comprised of melted butter and finely crushed Oreo cookies.  It's supposed to be pressed on a spring form pan, but I only had a pyrex deep dish on hand.

Poured out the pecan caramel mixture on the Oreo crust.  And refrigerated it while I worked on the filling.

Ingredients for the filling: cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar.

I decided to use the mixer to save time on softening the cream cheese.

 I find the paddle works best with cream cheese.

Mix and scrape.  It took a few minutes.

Once it got creamy, I added the eggs.  Recipe had several warnings not to overmix.  So I mixed it enough just to incorporate the eggs and vanilla extract.

Poured the filling on the prepared crust and baked for an hour and 10-15 minutes.  I liked testing the center with a knife. :)

Cracks are okay, but the burnt top is not.  Basically, I had an issue with the electric oven and its heating mechanism at the top.  Also, I should have covered it foil to eliminate the burning problem.

I chilled it overnight and served it with a side of chocolate ganache.

There are a couple of things that I need to tweak, but as far as taste goes, Nards says it's yummy.  He couldn't stop eating it. (Note: he's very biased.)

Turtle Cheesecake Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crushed Oreo cookies-(don't use Double Stuff)
• 6 T melted butter
• 1-14 oz bag of Kraft caramels
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3-8oz packages of cream cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
• 3 eggs
• 1Tbsp vanilla flavoring
• 2 squares Baker's
• (optional) Raspberries to decorate

Directions:

Mix Oreos and butter together until all are moistened. Pour and press into bottom and 1/2" up sides of a 9" springform pan. Put milk & caramels in a bowl and microwave until melted-stirring every 30 seconds. Stir pecans into melted caramels. Pour half of caramel mix onto crust and smooth out with spatula. Set aside remaining caramel. Chill crust 15 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on low speed of mixer until fluffy (5-7 min).

Add eggs 1 at a time beating on after each. Pour cheesecake mix on caramel layered crust.

Bake 300* 65-70 minutes until center is almost done. Run knife around edges to loosen. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top w/remaining caramel mix. Melt chocolate and drizzle over cake. Chill covered until ready to serve.