Last December I took a short trip to Norway with my mother aboard the Oslo ship. We had dinner one evening at their steak restaurant and we ate some really delicious food, I love a good steak and it definitely was.
But this recipe is about the dessert I had afterwards. A creamy and delicious caramel cheesecake with crispy caramel popcorn. It made me want to attempt making my own version and I am quite happy with the result. However, I chose to make a marbled version, with a mix of caramel and chocolate, as I wanted something to balance out the caramel. Adding to that, the base is made from left over sponge cake that I had in the freezer and is an excellent alternative to the classic biscuit base.
CARAMEL CHEESECAKE WITH POPCORN
10-12 SERVINGS
CAKE BASE:
200 G LEFTOVER CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE
75 G MELTED DARK CHOCOLATE, CALLEBAUT
Blend the leftover sponge cake to crumbs and mix with the melted chocolate.
Pour the mixture into an 18 cm spring mould, lined with baking paper on the bottom and cake plastic linge the sides.
Press the mixture well out into the edges and bottom so that the base is roughly the same thickness all over.
Place the base of the fridge while you make the rest of the cheesecake.
CHEESECAKE LAYER:
4 SHEETS GELATINE
50 G HEAVY CREAM + 2 TBSP FOR MELTING THE GELATINE
200 G CREAM CHEESE
50 G ICING SUGAR
50 G SALTED CARAMEL
100 G MILK CHOCOLATE, CALLEBAUT
1 TSK VANILLA BEAN PASTE
200 G HEAVY CREAM
Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 10 minutes.
Stir 50 g heavy cream and salted caramel together and heat it in the microwave until the mixture has melted. Let it cool slightly.
Gently melt the milk chocolate, avoid burning it.
Melt the gelatine in the microwave in 2 tablespoons cream and let it cool slightly.
Whisk cream cheese, icing and vanilla bean paste together in a bowl, stir in the melted gelatine. Weigh the cream mixture and divide it equally into two separate bowls.
Fold the slightly cooled caramel mixture into one portion of cream cheese and the milk chocolate into the other.
Whip 200 g heavy cream to soft peaks in another bowl.
Carefully fold half of the whipped cream into each serving of cream cheese with a ubber spatula.
Alternately pour a spoonful of caramel and chocolate cheesecake mixture on top of each other onto the cake base. Tap the mould every now and then against the table to distribute the mixture out to the sides.
Smooth out the top out so it’s even and neat.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours until the cheesecake is fully set.
CARAMEL POPCORN:
1 TBSP RAPESEED OIL
1/2 DL POPCORN KERNELS
65 G SUGAR
65 G MOLASSES SUGAR
25 G BUTTER
1 TSK SEA SALT
1 TSK BAKING SODA
Pour the oil and popcorn into a large 5 liter pan. Turn the heat up completely.
When the corn begins to pop, put the lid on and let them po,p while lifting the lid every now and then to let the steam out.
When there’s 2-3 seconds between each pop, turn off the heat and pour the hot popcorn into a large bowl. Sort unpopped corn kernels and set the popcorn aside.
Wash the pot and pour in the two kinds of sugar, melt it over an even heat.
When the sugar has melted, add butter and salt and stir the mixture to a smooth caramel.
Turn off the heat and mix in the baking soda.
Add the popcorn to the pot with caramel and mix well so that the popcorn ar evenly coated, before it starts to set.
Pour the caramel popcorn out onto a piece of baking paper and let it cool slightly before picking them apart with your fingers and sprinkling a little fine salt over them.
Decorate the cheesecake with the popcorn just before serving.
