Bitter Toffee and Pecan Cheesecake — sweet & different
I used to call this Bitter Toffee Pecan Pie. But it’s not really a pecan pie. And it is definitely a cheesecake. It is also not really bitter. But the black strap treacle and Greek yoghurt definitely give it a sweet sharpness. The maple syrup and butter definitely mellow out the sharpness though.
The biscuit base I use here is the same as the one I use for all sweet biscuit bases. Except if the recipe is vegan, in which case I substitute coconut oil for the butter. The biscuit base is made with gluten-free ginger cookies, pecan nuts, cinnamon, butter and maple syrup. It doesn’t matter which brand of gluten-free ginger cookie you use. If they have pieces of stem ginger you do not need to remove them. The only thing to be aware of is that different brands have different levels of sweetness. So you add the maple syrup according to how sweet you like it.
Bitter Toffee & Pecan Cheesecake
Yield: Makes 8″ pie or 12 mini pies
Suitable for: Gluten-free diet
Ingredients:
- 12 gluten-free ginger cookies
- 175g butter
- ~200g pecan nuts
- ground cinnamon
- 180g full fat cream cheese
- ½ cup (125g) natural whole Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp crude blackstrap molasses (treacle)
- maple syrup
Instructions:
Make & bake the biscuit base
Turn the oven on to 180° C. Place the pecans in a food mixer and mix until they are all chopped. Add in the ginger cookies and mix until everything is reduced to crumbs. Melt the butter the butter in the microwave - should only take about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the mixer with a ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and mix again. If you are using unsalted butter mix in a good pinch of salt too. Taste and add in maple syrup as needed. I usually add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I sometimes add in a small pinch of salt even though I use salted butter. I like the sweet-salty mix. When you’ve got it tasting just how you like it, scrape the mix into a greased cake tin and pat flat to cover the base. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out and allow to cool completely in the tin.Make the cheesecake filling and add to the biscuit base
Melt 75 grams of the butter in a saucepan, on a gentle heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the molasses and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. Keep stirring until the butter, the molasses and the maple syrup have blended and thickened a little – turning it into a runny bitter toffee. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.- Beat the yoghurt and cream cheese together. Next stir in the bitter toffee sauce until well combined. Taste and if necessary add another dash of maple syrup.
- Fill the biscuit base with the cream cheese filling and top with pecan nuts.
Make the topping & assemble the pies
Add 3 tablespoons of maple syrup to a saucepan. Heat on a gentle-moderate heat till it starts till it starts to simmer and thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in a teaspoon of butter. You do not need to let this toffee topping cool before assembling the pies. But you do need to be careful not to let it spill over the pies as when it hardens you may find your pie is stuck to the shelf of the fridge.- Top the pie with pecans and then carefully spoon over the toffee topping. Transfer to the fridge and leave to set for 8 hours.
Enjoy!
