Having made lots of nice circular cheesecakes over the years, I recently I chose to make one in a 20 x 20cm baking tray. My Tray-baked Vanilla Cheesecake came out really well and was very popular, so a couple of days ago I decided to make a different version. I wanted something rich and gooey – caramel immediately came to mind. I love pecans, so they had to be included for a bit of crunch. But it could be oversweet, I thought. How could I balance it? The answer was to include slightly salted mini pretzels.

Now, before you rush out and buy the ingredients and start baking this tempting treat, a word of caution. The proportions of my original cheesecake tray bake were near perfect, but this latter one – also baked in a 20 x 20cm tin – has produced quite large pieces. For me, that’s far from being a problem, but I’m now wondering whether the ingredients below would work as well in a 30 x 20cm tray. I’ll give the ingredients and times for the 20 x 20cm version and a few tips in case you want to go 30 x 20cm. OK?

Makes: Entirely up to you. 16 – 20 if you’re sharing in a group. Maybe fewer, but larger for home use.

Time: Around 50 minutes hands on and prep, then 65 – 75 minutes baking, followed by cooling time and another 15 minutes to decorate.

Level: Fairly easy

Equipment: A 20cm/8” square tin (tray) with deep sides. One with a removable bottom would be good, but not essential.

Ingredients for the base*

250g/9oz biscuits (e.g. shortbread or digestives or Graham crackers in US)
100g/3½oz butter
75g/2½oz golden syrup
75g/2½oz mini pretzels, broken up
50g/1¾oz pecans

* This will give you quite a deep base, which I like, but could be reduced pro rata.

Ingredients for the cake

250g/9oz mascarpone
250g/9oz full fat cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)
250g/9oz ricotta
250g/9oz caster sugar (I used golden, but white would be OK)
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cornflour (US – cornstarch, I think)
A 397g tin of caramel or dulce di leche (I used about half a tin)
About 50g/1¾oz pecans, broken up

To decorate (optional)

Some apricot jam
Mini pretzels (one for each piece when you cut the slab)
Pecan halves (as above)

Method

1. Line the inside of the tin with a double layer of baking parchment. Cut the paper so that it sits a little higher than the side of your tray, unless you have a high sided tray.

2. Bash the biscuits or whizz in a food processor until crumb-like. Break up the pretzels and pecans – these don’t need to be quite so fine. Melt the butter and golden syrup and pour over the biscuits then mix together.

3. Press the mixture into the base, using the back of a spoon or a plastic dough scraper. Heat the oven to 170°C / fan 150°C / 325°F / Gas 3. Bake the base for 12 – 15 minutes. (NB many cheesecake recipes simply tell you to chill the base for half an hour. Yes, that will work, but I prefer the firmer, crunchier texture that baking gives.)

4. To make the filling, pulse or lightly beat the mascarpone, cream cheese, ricotta, and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract and beat again briefly. (It just needs to be smooth, without whisking in lots of air.)

5. Mix the cornflour with a little of the mixture so there are no lumps then stir this back into the main mixture. Also stir in the 50g/1¾oz of broken pecans. (I had planned to also stir in some broken pretzels but had second thoughts in case they were too harsh a texture in the mixture. It’s you choice.)

6. Spoon or pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Drizzle or dollop over some caramel and stir to marble. Tap the baking tray a couple of times on your work surface to release any air pockets.

7. Bake for 65 – 75 minutes, using the same oven temperature as above. Check at 55 or 60 minutes. It needs to be setting around the edges, possibly pulling away from the sides, but still a little wobbly in the middle. Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly open with the cheesecake inside until it has cooled. (NB If you have decided to opt for a 30 x 20cm tray, the layers will be thinner, so baking time will need to be less.)

8. You could cut the cooled cheesecake now, before adding any topping items, or do it afterwards. I like to give my cheesecakes a little “fridge time” before I add any decorations or topping.

9. One option for decorating is to brush the cooled cheesecake with warm apricot jam then add a mini pretzel and half a pecan to each piece.

I hope you enjoy this cheesecake. If you want to see more cheesecake recipes click here. Please have a look at my site for lots of other recipes, sweet and savoury.

Below is a “mixed bag” of some of my favourite recent bakes that you may want to investigate.

Carrot Walnut & Ginger Sheet Cake

Date and Orange Soda Bread

Apricot and Almond Cake

Raspberry & Coconut Crumble Bars

Rich Chocolate Torte

If you’d like to comment or ask a question, that’s great. Just go to the contact page. I love getting feedback, but please be kind with the comments, I’m a sensitive soul.