Cheesecake, of course!

I love a good cheesecake. You can often find my springform pan in use. This past week my Father-in-law threw a surprise birthday party for my Mother-in-law. (I won't mention her age, but she is officially twice as old as me.) So, I made the food for this get together. It was fun, sweet and sour meatballs, bbq cups, fresh salsa, fruit salad (not mine, but still delicious!), cupcakes and cheesecake. Living so far from a Starbucks, I made this cheesecake in hopes of combining the two favorites of mine (caramel macchiatos and cheesecake) The coffee flavor is not too strong, so use stronger espresso if you want more of a coffee flavor. I hope all of you reading my blog love cheesecake as much as I do. If not, then try this recipe that I made for the party. I think it is my favorite cheesecake so far...

Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake
Ingredients:
10 graham crackers, crushed
3 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or caramel flavoring)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso

Heavy Cream
Caramel Syrup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan (I like to use Pam for baking).
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. Bake about 5-10 minutes until firm.

In a large bowl, beat room temperature cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat until smooth. Pour in milk, blend, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, extract, espresso and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Don't open the oven to check on it. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door slightly open for a few hours or overnight. To prevent cracking I leave in the oven as mentioned, and put a pan of hot water on the rack below, similar to a water bath. Chill in refrigerator.

For a topping I made my own whipped cream from the heavy cream and caramel (be sure to chill the bowl and beater in the freezer before whipping) and drizzled caramel ice cream topping on top of that. Chill even longer for best flavor.