I love to come up with different cheesecake flavors. I’m sure I’ve talked before about the pastry chef at the restaurant that I worked at as a teenager. Every night he had a cheesecake of the day(or night!), and they were almost always amazing (I wasn’t a huge fan of the banana cheesecake). Anyway, I’m always on the lookout for new flavor combinations, and a few weeks ago I saw a carrot cake cheesecake as a dessert special at a restaurant. Sometimes just the name will give me major inspiration. I think carrot cake and cheesecake are a perfect combination. The best part of carrot cake is the cream cheese frosting, and in this dessert the carrot cake acts as the base, and the creamy white chocolate cheesecake is a version of the frosting.
Normally I use cookies or cookie crumbs as the base for my cheesecakes, but this carrot cake base is pretty magical. If you’re a fan of carrot cake, then you’ll definitely be a fan of this cheesecake. I prefer my cheesecakes chilled, but if you’re looking for something a little more like the frosting/cake combo, then you can serve the cake at room temperature.
White chocolate might be a bit controversial but I’m a rebel that way! I love white chocolate, and so it makes me happy to use it in a recipe here.
Carrot Cake Cheesecake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake:
- 1/2 c. Imperial Sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/2 c. white flour
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 c. shredded carrots
- 1/2 c. raisins
Cheesecake:
- 3 x 8 oz. cream cheese
- 3/4 c. Imperial Sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp almond flavoring
- 2 c. white chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- To make the carrot cake base: combine the sugar, oil and eggs.
- Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture.
- Fold in the carrots and raisins.
- Bake in a greased springform pan at 350º for 10 minutes.
- While the carrot cake is baking, prepare the cheesecake.
- Cream the sugar and cream cheese.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
- Add in the vanilla, almond flavoring and chocolate.
- Pour batter into the springform pan and bake at 425º for ten minutes and the lower the heat to 250º and bake for another 45 minutes.
- When the time is up, turn off the oven and open the oven door. Let the cake cool in the oven.
- Chill overnight in the fridge.
