Need I say more? I created this sensational masterpiece out of sheer instinct and passion for the ingredients I was using. After taking about 3 bites, I told my husband, “This is the kind of stuff that makes me fall more in love with myself.” This statement in and of itself says so much, because I am not as confident in myself as that statement makes me sound.

Cheesecake, all in all, is not difficult to make. It does require some knowledge of chemistry and how the ingredients will work together. Also, it should be noted that in order to blend your cream cheese together, a hand-held mixer will simply not do. You must have a standing mixer or food processor with a similar function. The cream cheese is too thick and too hard – even when it is softened.

Crust:

2 cups of crushed graham crackers

1/2 cup of melted butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup of coco powder

3/4 cup of sugar

1 cup of white chocolate

1Stir everything together and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Melt white chocolate, and pour over the crust. (I did this very easily in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Watch it closely, though. We don’t want to burn white chocolate!) refrigerate while making the filling.

Filling:

3 packages of cream cheese

5 eggs (this is the bonding agent)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup of sugar or low-calorie sweetener

1 lime, just the juice

1 tbsp of vanilla

1 1/2 cups finely grated pecans

Whip cream cheese. Also, Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Add in eggs one at a time. Blend completely before adding another egg. Add Sour Cream. Keep blending. Add sugar. Keep blending. Add lime juice. Keep blending. Add vanilla. Keep blending. Finally, fold in the pecans. This is a fairly runny batter. Place your springform pan with your crust inside a larger pan to keep your batter from leaking out into your oven. After pouring the filling into the pan, wrap aluminum foil over the top. DO NOT REMOVE ALUMINUM FOIL. The second that you do, you will begin the cracking of the top of your cake. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven, but allow your cake to remain in the oven for an additional 2 hours. Then refrigerate overnight… still leaving the aluminum foil.

Topping:

Just 45 minutes before serving, create this amazing topping.

1/2 cup of pecans

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of amaretto (I used Amaretto Di Amore because they use both apricots and almonds to create their version of amaretto! Dekuyper’s version will leave your topping very watery)

1 tbsp Vanilla

1/2 cup of chocolate syrup

Candy the pecans by making sure that the all the other (sugar-laced) ingredients are constantly covering the pecans. Cook on low for at least 20 minutes to be sure the alcohol is cooked out of the amaretto, only leaving the flavor of the apricots and almonds. Pour over top just before serving!

mmmmm….. I’m craving some right now! Hope you enjoy. Feel free to ask questions!