Let Them Eat Cheesecake! (Recipe)

Let them eat cake, cheesecake specifically! July 30th is National Cheesecake Day and there’s is no better way, IOO, to celebrate than by making Cynthia Beretta’s decadent Bacon Caramel Cheesecake.

As co-founder of Canada’s own Beretta Farms, Cynthia loves creating delicious recipes from unexpected combinations. Opposites always attract when it comes to flavour pairings—salty pretzels with sweet, sticky caramel drizzle, chewy chocolate chip cookies with a surprise potato chip crunch, french fries dipped in a creamy milkshake, and bacon and cheesecake. Bacon and cheesecake are both great on their own, but together they are the perfect marriage of salty and sweet. The unique flavour combination is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Create Cynthia’s Bacon Caramel Cheesecake recipe at home, and feel good about serving it to your loved ones: Beretta Farms is committed to raising proteins organically without the use of antibiotics or added hormones and steroids. —Vita Daily

Cynthia Beretta Bacon Caramel Cheesecake

Crust Ingredients:

6 slices Beretta Farms Antibiotic Free Pork Bacon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup organic butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt

Filling Ingredients:

2 250-gram packages organic cream cheese, room temperature
2 large organic eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients:

3 slices Beretta Farms Antibiotic Free Pork Bacon
10 tbsp organic salted butter
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup organic heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the crust, line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment and preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl mix together brown sugar, rice vinegar and maple syrup. Dip Beretta Farms Bacon into mixture. Lay on a baking tray and cook for 35 minutes. Let cool. In a food processor, crush up bacon until it’s a breadcrumb-like consistency. Stir together all remaining crust ingredients with the bacon crumbs, mixing until thoroughly combined. Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan, making a thicker layer on the bottom than on the sides. For the filling, in a mixer on low speed, combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in eggs and vanilla, again mixing until smooth. Pour filling into the crust and place the cheesecake in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from the oven, and set it on a rack to cool. Once the cake is cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. To make the topping, in a medium skillet, cook bacon over medium high heat until bacon is completely cooked and crunchy. Remove from pan and chop into crumbles. Leaving bacon grease in the pan, add butter, brown sugar, water and salt. Place over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until butter melts. Once butter has melted, reduce heat to medium and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so the pan doesn’t overflow. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream, bacon crumbles and vanilla extract. Return to heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Let the caramel rest 10 minutes to thicken. Drizzle bacon caramel sauce over cheesecake and serve.