Home Recipes Rum-Soaked Prune Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Rum-Soaked Prune Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

This boozy swirled cheesecake tastes like a holiday celebration. Juicy prunes are first soaked in a heady mixture of spiced rum, orange zest and orange juice, puréed then swirled on top of a rummy cheesecake filling. As if that wasn’t perfection on its own, each slice is then topped with a rich, salted caramel sauce. It’s the cheesecake of your dreams. The water bath and extra cooling time in the oven ensure that the top of the cheesecake doesn’t crack, so make sure to follow those steps! By Alison Needham of A Girl Defloured. Featuring California Prunes.

Ingredients

	Prune Swirl
175 g	prunes
59 ml	spiced rum (or apple juice + ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice)
	Zest from one orange (approximately 1 tbsp)
	Juice from one orange (approximately 59 ml)
50 g	sugar
118 ml	water
	Cheesecake Crust
300 g	graham cracker crumbs
6 tbsp	unsalted butter, melted
	Pinch of salt
	Pinch of cinnamon
	Cheesecake Filling
908 g	cream cheese
267 g	sugar
4	large eggs
157 ml	heavy cream
150 g	sour cream
¼	teaspoon salt
2 tsp	pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp	white rum (optional)
	Salted Caramel Sauce
200 g	white sugar
6 tbsp	salted butter, room temp and cut into cubes
118 ml	heavy cream
	Pinch of sea salt

Step 1
Make the prune swirl. Put prunes, spiced rum (or juice and spices), orange zest, and orange juice in a bowl. Let soak for at least one hour, up to overnight. Pour the mixture into a heavy bottomed, small saucepan. Add the sugar and the water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the liquids thicken. Remove from heat and cool. When the prunes are just warm to the touch, purée until smooth in a food processor or blender. If the prune mixture seems too thick, add water so it’s about the consistency of a loose jam.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 176 degrees Celsius (C).
Step 3
Make the crust. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and mix with a fork until the crumbs are evenly coated. Add the salt and cinnamon and mix to combine. Press into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 23 cm springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Step 4
Reduce oven temperature to 162 degrees (C).
Step 5
Make the filling. While the crust is in the oven, beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for 4 minutes more. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat until thoroughly combined. Add the heavy cream and sour cream and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and rum and stir until combined.
Step 6
Carefully wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with a large sheet of heavy duty foil and place in a larger baking dish (such as a roasting pan). Boil 2 liters of water for a water bath.
Step 7
Pour the cheesecake mixture into the crust and smooth the top. Carefully dollop the prune purée around the edge of the cheesecake, about 2,5 cm apart. Using the edge of a knife or a skewer, swirl the purée decoratively over the top of the cheesecake.
Step 8
Place the roasting pan with the cheesecake on an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Carefully pour the hot water in the corner of the roasting pan, until it comes up the sides of the cheesecake pan about 4 cm. Bake the cheesecake for 90 minutes, or until it’s puffed on the edges and slightly jiggly in the middle.
Step 9
Turn off the oven and crack the door. Let the cheesecake cool in the oven for about an hour.
Step 10
Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving, preferably overnight.
Step 11
Make the salted caramel sauce. Pour the sugar into a heavy-bottomed 2-3 liter saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sugar is melted and turns a burnished bronze color. Add in the butter all at once, stirring vigorously. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. Be careful because it will splatter and froth a bit. Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth. Add a good pinch of sea salt. Cool slightly before pouring over the cheesecake. This sauce keeps for two weeks in the refrigerator.
Step 12
Slice and serve with warm caramel sauce.

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Rum-Soaked Prune Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

Prune Swirl

Cheesecake Crust

Cheesecake Filling

Salted Caramel Sauce

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

Step 10

Step 11

Step 12

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