Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Individual baked cheesecakes in ramekins — barely set, silky, and served cold under a poured salted caramel. The baking is gentle: 10 minutes in the oven, then the heat goes off and they rest for an hour. The caramel is the kind you make once and want to put on everything. Crust is optional.
-
½ lb (225 g) cream cheese, room temperature -
½ cup sugar -
3 large eggs, room temperature -
½ cup sour cream
-
6 tbsp light corn syrup -
½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar -
3 tbsp unsalted butter -
½ cup heavy cream -
¾ tsp fleur de sel, plus more to finish
-
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs (9–10 whole crackers) -
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar -
5 tbsp + 1 tsp (⅓ cup) melted butter -
⅛ tsp salt
-
Optional crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, melted butter, and salt. Press into the base of each ramekin.
-
Cheesecake: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the sour cream. Pour the batter into six 5-oz ramekins.
-
Set the ramekins in a small pan. Place in the centre of the oven and fill the pan with water up to halfway up the ramekins (a water bath). Bake at 325°F for 10 minutes — the edges should be set but the centre still slightly jiggly. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecakes inside for 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
-
Caramel sauce: In a heavy medium saucepan, heat the corn syrup. Stir in the sugar and cook over medium-high heat, undisturbed, for about 9 minutes until a deep amber caramel forms. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cream in a thin, steady stream. Transfer to a heatproof pitcher and let cool. Stir in the fleur de sel.
-
Pour 1½ tbsp of caramel over each chilled cheesecake and swirl. If the caramel is too thick to pour, warm it in the microwave 10 seconds at a time. Sprinkle with extra fleur de sel and serve.
