Somewhere between Hawaii and Hobnobs: Caramel-Macadamia Nut Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Round 2 of Daring Bakers: Cheesecake Challenge. I must admit I have never actually made cheesecake before and secondly, I have a love hate relationship with the thing. Somedays its oooh so tasty, creamy goodness and look at the flavour options. Then there are other days when I'm thinking 'cream cheese,' seriously does that even count as cheese? Or worse yet does it even really could as a dairy product? But moreoever, cheesecake is Jussi's favourite dessert, foolish me, I mean meal.

The recipe for the cheesecake was quite simple to follow, but then the caramel....well lets just say we had a 'situation' two Sundays ago when Jussi was not happy I was making cheesecake. It involves burning caramel in a pan, then dumping it into a plastic rubbish bin, then freaking out and then grabbing the rubbish bag (which also is made of plastic) and putting it into the burning caramel pot - all before a dinner party and we weren't having any smoked fish to make up for the smell. Ooops.

The Caramel & Macadamia combination was inspired from the Ottolenghi cookbook, which features a double dose of sugared caramel (both in its pure dump all over the cheesecake form, and a caramel and macadamia brittle which is broken on top of the cheesecake). I also used HobNobs, a classic British biscuit for the crust.

In the end the cheesecake combination is a sort of exhibition of cultural expressions from growing up, Hawaii with the macadamia nuts, cheesecake for classic Americana, and now a bit of HobNobs to appease the posh folk. If only it was enjoyed with tea and coffee, versus diving in directly with a fork after a tasty meal (hence the lack of perfect slice pictures :) and only Rachel having lots of enjoyment).

Recipe alterations:
Base: One pack crushed HobNobs with approximately 3-4 tbsp melted butter

Topping:
Caramel Drizzle (do not over cook, see burning notes above): Melt 4 tbsp butter and 1 cup sugar in a pan. Continuously stir. When reaches desired colour add 1 cup of whipping cream and allow to cool slightly before pouring over cool cheesecake.

Caramel Mac Nut Brittle: Melt without stirring approx 3/4 of a cup of sugar until it turns brown syrup colour. The pour over macademia nuts on a parchment lined pan. Allow to cool and break up pieces.