Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Base:
280g vanilla wafer crumbs
6 tbsp butter or margarine, melted and cooled

For the Cake:
420g caramels
150ml evaporated milk
140g chopped pecan nuts, toasted
480g cream cheese, softened (or you can use my home-made cream cheese recipe to prepare your own)
100g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate, cut into pieces, melted and cooled

Method:

For the base, combine the vanilla wafer crumbs and butter in a bowl. Stir thoroughly to combine then press into the base of a 22cm diameter springform cake tin. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In the meantime add the caramels to a large pan along with the evaporated milk and cook over low heat until the caramels have melted and the mixture is smooth. Take off the heat, pour over the crust then top with the pecan nuts. Now beat the cream cheese in until soft then add the sugar and vanilla, beating until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition. Blend in the chocolate then pour into the crust.

Transfer to the oven and bak for 40 minutes then remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Loosen the rim of the pan then set aside to cool completely before removing from around the cake. Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 8 hours then garnish with whipped cream and additional finely-chopped pecan nuts before serving.