German Chocolate Cheesecake

Recipe courtesy of Prepared Pantry

Everyone loves cheesecake and chocolate and cheesecake seems like the perfect combination. This is an easy recipe to put together and the German chocolate and caramel just makes for a scrumptious and very attractive cheesecake dessert. You can make the caramel toping from melted caramels but caramel ice cream topping works just as well and saves a little time. This recipe can be made a day or two in advance of the dinner.

Crust
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs (about two
    inner packages of graham crackers) - Chocolate cookie
    crumbs may be substituted.
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
2 1/2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

For the Toppings
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the chocolate topping, combine four ounces of sweet German chocolate with two tablespoons whipping cream and one tablespoon butter. Melt in a small saucepan and stir until smooth.

For the caramel topping, melt 12 caramels with 1/3 cup cream in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Or use ice cream topping.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a 9-inch springform pan, mix the cracker crumbs and the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into a crust across the bottom and about one inch up the sides. Bake the crust for eight minutes.

In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese with the sugar. Add the flour and salt. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Combine the vanilla and milk. Pour the filling mix into the crust.

Bake for ten minutes at 450 degrees F. Lower the temperature to 200 degrees F and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until the cheesecake filling is set.

With a sharp knife, loosen the edges of the cheesecake from the pan so that the cake will pull away from the pan as it cools. Remove the rim of the pan after it cools.

Drizzle the cheesecake with caramel and then with chocolate. Sprinkle nuts on the cake. Refrigerate until completely cool before serving.