Banana Pecan Praline Cheesecake

I have never tried to make a cheesecake before but my wonderful boyfriend loves them and whilst visiting Mum's over Easter I thought it might be a perfect time to try one. I found this recipe in the April 2011 edition of Delicious magazine and have tweaked it slightly to suit my tastes (I am a bit of a caramel nut). The photo is also of the initial way I made the cheesecake, however I have changed the way I would assemble it for further attempts as per the recipe. If you dont like banana you can omit it from the recipe to make a Pecan Praline Cheesecake.

Note: This is a recipe you need to plan for, it is best started a day ahead.

Banana Pecan Praline Cheesecake

Adapted from: Delicious magazine - April 2011

Ingredients - Cheesecake:

125g Unsalted Butter

50g Icing Sugar - sifted

150g Plain Flour - sifted

625g Cream Cheese - at room temperature

2 Bananas (about 240g) - mashed

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tbs Lime Juice

370g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs + 4 Egg Yolks

250g Sour Cream - at room temperature

1/4 cup Pure Cream

115g Pecans - toasted and roughly chopped

Ingredients - Caramel:

220g Caster Sugar

20g Unsalted Butter

Ingredients - Banana Topping:

3 Banana's

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm springform cake pan, ensure the baking paper comes about 1cm above the lip of the pan. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Blitz the butter, icing sugar and flour in a food processor until smooth. Spread on the lined baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool completely. Reduce oven to 140 degrees celsius. Once cooled, blitz in the food processor until you have even crumbs. Press the crumbs into the base of the prepared cake pan.

3. Beat the cream cheese in an electic mixer for 8 - 10 minutes until very smooth. Combined the mashed banana's, vanilla and lime juice in a bowl. Add to the cream cheese and 150g of the caster sugar and beat for a further 5 minutes until smooth. Add the eggs and extra yolks to the cream cheese mixture 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Once smooth pour over the base.

4. Fill a roasting pan with boiling water and place on the bottom shelf of the oven. Place the cake pan on a higher shelf and bake for 50 minutes or until dry to the touch but still wobbly.

5. Whisk the sour cream and pure cream together until smooth. Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until just set.

6. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in it to cool completely. Refridgerate for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight.

7. For the praline, line a baking tray with baking paper and place the pecans on it. Place the remining 220g of sugar with 1/3 cup of water in a small pan over a medium heat, stirring only to dissolve the sugar. Cook until the mixture starts to become golden then remove from heat. Stir until the entire mixture is golden then pour over the pecans. Cool completely.

8. Blitz the pecans in a food processor a little at a time until it is fine crumbs. Set aside.

9. For the caramel, place the sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring only to dissolve the sugar. Cook unil the mixture starts to become golden. Add the butter and stir until incorporated. Cool.

10. Roughly mash the banana's and place in a small bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until warm and soft. Mash or use a blender until the banana becomes has a smooth consistency.

11. To assemble the cake, gently remove the cake from the pan and place on a serving plate. Gently press the praline onto the sides of the cheesecake, forming a small ridge at the top edge to finish. Using an offset spatula, smooth the banana over the cheesecake. Drizzle the caramel on top of the banana.