It’s one of those beautiful Colorado days today.  The kind where the sky is perfectly blue, the sun is shining, and everything is covered in a perfect dusting of snow.

Just enough snow to cover the brown grass, make the leafless trees look pretty, and accent the rooflines.  Enough to cover the little blemishes of our neighborhood and make everything look quaint and nice.

Think of the sour cream topping on this cake as a light snow dusting on your cheesecake.  It will cover a multitude of sins – including a giant crack that goes through the middle and a touch too much browning across the top.

It makes everything seem smooth, light, and nice.  The illusion of perfection.

The original topping recipe turned out really runny and weird for me, so I made my own, which is listed below.  I also drizzled the caramel sauce over the entire cake before serving, rather than each slice as it came out.  It just seemed easier to me, but do whatever you like.

Just don’t fret about the cheesecake looking perfect straight out of the oven.  With a little topping it will look perfect, and no matter what, it will taste good.

Unlike the snow outside.  I don’t advise eating that, no matter how white and fluffy it looks.

Ingredients

Crust:
500g plain sweet shortbread biscuits
½ cup (60g) almond meal (ground almonds)
150g butter, melted

Filling:

350g ricotta
500g cream cheese
1 cup (175g) brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup (I couldn’t find this and used agave)
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping (different from original recipe):

1 cup (240g) sour cream
2 tablespoons icing (confectioner’s) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel Sauce:

1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
60g butter, chopped
1 cup (175g) brown sugar

Directions

To make the caramel sauce, place the cream, butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 5–7 minutes or until thickened. Set aside and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Place the biscuits and almond meal in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add the butter and process to combine. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and sides of a lightly greased 22cm springform cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place the ricotta and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5–6 minutes or until smooth. Add the sugar and beat for 3–4 minutes or until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the golden syrup (or agave), table salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the biscuit shell. Place the tin in a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the tin. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove cheesecake from the baking dish and allow to cool in the tin. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

Place the sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and mix until smooth.  Add extra sugar to taste if desired. Top the cheesecake with the cream, drizzle with the caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt flakes to serve.

Source: Adapted from Donna Hay