Turtle Cheesecake aka Pixie Cheesecake

In the midwest there was a chain of candy stores or I should say stores selling all kinds of 'finely made' chocolates that was a favorite destination. Receiving chocolates from this store in our Easter baskets, Christmas stockings or as a gift was a treat as we were thrilled to get what we thought to be the best chocolates in the world. This store we grew up with was called Fannie May Candy and their chocolates were contained in their distinctive white box with gold lettering. It is still around but it is not the same store I grew up with even though they carry the candies made by the 'original' Fannie May.  My personal favorites were the vanilla buttercreams dipped in dark chocolate and the caramels, but it seemed that everyone else in my family had as their perennial favorite, the Pixies.  A pixie was made of creamy caramel topped with pecans and then covered in milk chocolate.  Some of you know this candy confection by another name, turtles.  And when you look at them, I suppose they do sort of look like a turtle.

One day a few years in an office where the number of females outnumbered the number of males, one of the male staff members brought in what he called a Turtle Cheesecake. Everyone asked if he could ask his 'wife' to share the recipe.  He said no he couldn't.  You could have heard a pin drop as this was a place where everyone willingly shared their recipes. So to fill the void of silence, someone then said 'please will you ask her?' He laughed and said 'well I can't ask her because it isn't her recipe, it's mine'. Up until that point, no one knew he had a passion or talent for cooking and baking. And honestly if he wasn't married, I do think every 'single' female in the room would have wanted to be invited to dinner or at least for dessert.

So this Turtle aka Pixie cheesecake recipe has it all, the chocolate, the caramel and the pecans.  It is easy to want to skip the step of toasting the pecans before chopping them.  But just know that the taste and fragrance of the pecans is incredibly enhanced when lightly toasted.  So I beg you, do the toasting.

A box of vanilla wafers will yield more than the two cups of crumbs you need for the crust, leaving you some cookies to nibble on while you are making this recipe.  You can use a food processor to make the crumbs or place them in a large ziplock baggie and crush with a rolling pin.

The melted butter and crushed wafers are mixed together and pressed into a springform pan.  I always line my springform pan with parchment paper as it makes the removal of the cheesecake from the pan so much easier. Make the crust so it comes up about an inch on the side of the pan as you will need it to contain the melted caramel. The crust is baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and then cooled.

Maybe the most tedious part of making this cheesecake is the unwrapping of the caramels.  But not to worry, it goes fast.  Once unwrapped the caramels are combined with the evaporated milk in a bowl over steaming water on the stove.  Stir periodically until it is a creamy melted caramel mixture.

The melted caramel mixture is poured over the baked and cooled crust.  Adding a sprinkling of sea salt over the caramel adds a great depth of flavor. The toasted chopped pecans are then added on top of the sea salted caramel mixture.  The crust-caramel-pecans are then refrigerated for at least 10-15 minutes or just until caramel sets.  This helps to ensure the caramel remains in place when pouring the batter on top.

While the crust is chilling, the cream cheese and sugar are mixed together until smooth.  Having room temperature cream cheese is really important otherwise it won't cream well and you will have little clumps of cream cheese in the finished batter. After adding the vanilla, the room temperature eggs are added one at a time until completed blended in.

Once the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla are mixed together you add the slightly cooled chocolate.  If your chocolate is too hot it will clump up in the cheesecake batter, if it is too cold it will also appear like clumps in your batter. Its all about getting the chocolate to the right not too hot, not too cold balance.

The cheesecake batter is then poured into the pan.  Using an offset spatula, smooth the top before placing in the oven.

The cheesecake is baked for approximately 40 minutes or until the filling is barely set. You should have some movement in the middle.  But not to worry, this is how you want it.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Use a knife to release the cheesecake from the sides of the pan when unmolding.

Place on a cake stand or platter. Cut into slices and enjoy.

Recipe
Turtle Cheesecake aka Pixie Cheesecake (slight adaptation to a recipe share by a colleague from long ago)

Ingredients
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

14 ounce package of wrapped caramels (unwrapped)
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (three 8 ounce packages)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, melted
sea salt

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Line a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
3.  Toast pecans for 6 minutes.  Cool, chop and set aside.
4.  Mix vanilla wafer crumbs and melted butter.  Press into the prepared springform pan.  Bring some of the mixture up the sides of the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
5.  Unwrap caramels and place in the top of a double boiler (or a glass bowl over steaming hot water).  Add the evaporated and milk.  Melt the caramels in the milk.  Could take up to 10 minutes.
6.  Pour melted caramel over the cooled crust.  Sprinkle very lightly with sea salt. Top with the chopped pecans.  Place pan in the refrigerator to allow caramel to set, about 10-15 minutes.
7. Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler, allow to cool but not harden.
8. In a mixer using a paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
9. Mix in vanilla.
10. Add eggs, one at a time until mixed in.
11. Add slightly cooled melted chocolate.
12. Pour batter over the caramel and nut layer of the crust.
13.  Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until barely set in the center. Remove from oven and cool.
14. Cover the cooled cheesecake and refrigerator overnight.

When I was in college, my dad used to send me a pound sized vanilla cream filled egg from Fannie May Candies. It usually was sent after Easter as my economical dad would buy it on sale the day after the holiday. When it arrived at the dorm and ultimately at the sorority house, it didn't last long as everyone came in asking if they could have just a small slice. I suppose I should have been happy to be saved the intake of so many calories, but secretly I wanted to make this cream filled egg become a daily treat for all of the studying I was doing on Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Thursday nights at the University of Illinois were reserved for going out to the bars. Somehow beer and chocolate did not seem like a good combination on those nights.

Easter would not be Easter if I didn't buy Fannie May candy as gifts for family members or put out on a tray at the holiday dinner.  There are no Fannie May Candy stores out here on the east coast, so when I travel back to the midwest I usually try to pick up a box to keep for 'company'. Childhood memories are always pretty powerful.  So even though I have gone on to appreciate other chocolate candies (Donaldson's in Lebanon, Indiana and Haven's Candy in Maine), Fannie May candies will always be my favorites. Its funny how making this turtle cheesecake aka pixie cheesecake brings back a set of great memories from a long time ago, especially the ones involving my dad.