In this post we bake a Snickers cheesecake.
Which brings up the topic…
Nougat.
Let’s say it together one time, shall we?….noo-git.
What a great word, what is that? I always wondered. I understood the other ingredients listed. But not that one.
It turns out nougat is something like egg whites and nuts or something. Maybe honey.
Nougat by itself is kinda meh.
But in concert with chocolate, and peanuts, and caramel…it is heaven. The Mars family realized this ‘way back in 1930.
That’s pushin’ 100 years ago.
And Snickers is the #1 candy bar after all those years. In the world. Period.
That is why, my friends, to this very day…Mars family members drive really nice cars.
There are a ton of recipes that involve Snickers bars. A website called spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com lists 20 recipes, like Snickers caramel apple salad and Snickers peanut butter fudge. There’s a cheesecake recipe there, too, but we’re going with a MAX recipe.
We’re going to use the basic low-and-slow pecan pie filling recipe with a layer of flavor-intensified chocolate ganache on top, with loads of chopped-up snickers bars and unsalted peanuts.
Mmmmmm.
Classic.
As always, this post is very detailed, loaded with tips, for folks who are learning to bake cheesecake.
For experienced bakers, feel free to scroll down to the Readers Digest version at the end of the post or go directly to the recipe card.
If you like something visual, please go to the YouTube video.
Enjoy!
Equipment list:
gallon zip plastic bag
rolling pin
oven thermometer
half hotel pan or standard cookie sheet pan
9″ Fat Daddio two piece cheesecake pan
parchment paper
Baker’s Joy
measuring spoons
pyrex custard cups or small bowls
stand mixer with bowl
paddle attachment
aluminum foil
cooling rack
big sharp knife
small thin-bladed sharp knife
offset spatula
teflon spatula
plastic scraper doodad
cutting board
double boiler
Ingredients:
Crust
3/4 pack Nabisco chocolate wafers
1/2 stick butter
Filling
12 ounces chopped Snickers bars + 2 ounces for garnish
2 bricks Philly
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sour cream
teaspoon vanilla
1 cup conf sugar
1 tablespoon flour
pinch salt
Topping:
4 oz high quality semisweet chips (like Ghirardelli)
4 oz high quality bittersweet chips (like Ghirardelli)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (Cafe Bustelo)
Garnish:
2 ounces chopped snickers bars
2 ounces chopped unsalted peanuts
Crust Prep
Prepare the Fat Daddio
Lay the pan bottom on parchment paper and run a pencil around the edge, then cut out the circle. Put the pan together and dust all the inside with Bakers Joy, lay the parchment circle on the bottom and dust the paper.
Do the crust according to the MAX philosophy
–the crust will be flat, we’re not going up the side…
–melt the butter but don’t necessarily use it all
–gently pat the crumbs into place with the backs of the fingers
A word from Mom…
This is Mom’s cheesecake crust philosophy…she explained it to us one day during a long afternoon of baking.
You don’t want too much crust; you don’t want there to be so much crust that it becomes the dominant flavor as you fork toward the back of the slice.
So keep it flat, don’t go up the sides of the pan.
You don’t want the crust too hard, too tamped-down. Some folks use the bottom of a water glass and that makes it tough and dry. And don’t use too much butter or it’ll be like concrete. My sister asked….won’t there be a lot of crumbs floating around on the plate? Perhaps, Mom told her, but not enough to make a difference…and if people object to a few crumbs on the plate then you’re hanging around with the wrong people.
Making the crust
Gently warm the butter in a saucepan, while it’s melting swirl the pan a little.
Crumb the chocolate wafers in a food processor or put them in a one-gallon zipper bag and flatten them out with a rolling pin.
Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl and add the melted butter sparingly, sifting with the fingers until the crumbs are moist but not soggy. Do not necessarily use all the butter.
Dump them in the center of the pan.
Gently pat into place using the backs of the fingers
Or…if you can’t find chocolate wafer cookies:
Unbox a pre-made Oreo pie crust into a large mixing bowl.
Break it up with a wire whisk; whisk until all the chunks are gone.
Add the melted butter very sparingly, etc. etc.
Chopping the snickers bars for the filling
Chop the bars into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch chunks. There’s going to be a lot of fine shavings around after you’re done. Scoop it all into the prepared crust with a big knife or one of those plastic food scraper doodads.
Starting the batter
The filling ingredients should all be at room temperature, the eggs…everything.
Break the eggs into individual Pyrex custard cups and put the sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla into small shallow bowls so they’ll slide easily into the big mixer.
Sift the confectioners sugar, flour and salt together into a mixing bowl.
Wets are going first, drys are going last so line them up that way.
Mixing
Start by doing the bricks at slow-medium speed until smooth, but don’t whip too much or too long.
Add an egg, blend it in until you can’t see yellow streaks, then add the other, same thing. Remember, the slower mixer speed the better, we don’t want to whip a bunch of air into the batter.
Add the heavy cream and vanilla, incorporate, add the sour cream, incorporate.
Stop the mixer and spatula down the walls, mix some more.
Blend in the the flour and confectioners and mix until just incorporated.
Pouring the batter over the chopped bars
This next step is key: stop the mixer and spatula down the walls, mix everything around a bit with the spatula, then start pouring the batter through a big-mesh strainer over the Snickers.
When I first did this recipe I’d get small chunks of cream cheese and little balls of confectioners in the finished cheesecake, which pained my heart. So….I started straining. It’s awkward to do alone so I pour as much as I can through the sieve, then quickly hover the sieve over a mixing bowl and spatula the rest through. Spatula the sieve thoroughly to press everything through, then lift the sieve, pour the batter out of the mixing bowl using the spatula so we’re not wasting anything. You’ll need every bit of batter to cover the Snickers pieces.
Scrape the last of the batter from the mixing bowl and the underside of the strainer; now it’s all in the pan. If any Snickers are sticking through the surface push ’em under.
Air Bubbles
Experts vary on what to do next. Some suggest rapping the pan sharply on the counter-top a couple of times to release trapped air. Some say nothing about it. One baker suggests letting the batter sit for an hour before baking to let the trapped bubbles escape naturally.
I’m currently thinking there are going to be air bubbles regardless, and whether they pop before or during baking they’re going to leave a crater. Most times these are pretty small and the topping will cover most of ’em.
Plus if folks have a magnifying glass out looking for craters in your cheesecake you’re hanging out with the wrong people anyway.
That being said, if you have any insight please email me. I’ll talk about the best in a later post so if you want to remain anon let me know that too:
Baking and crack prevention
So….on to a sheet pan and then to the center rack, stabilized at 325F. Make sure the sheet pan isn’t warped, you want the cheesecake to be level as it bakes. One time I used a double bottom cookie pan and it warped while baking…the cheesecake was ‘way higher on one side. Not cool.
No water bath
How do you feel about the water bath? Personally not wild about $20 of ingredients (in a pan with openings) sitting in the middle of a lake.
Some of our recipes will need a waterbath and we’ll deal with that later; this recipe does not. The pecan pie cheesecake has two things going for it; flour and temperature.
More crack prevention
Flour or cornstarch will help prevent cracks, they bind the ingredients together.
Lower temperature will help prevent cracks. Most recipes I’ve seen bake at 350; recipes without waterbath are usually 325 or even 300.
Realizing that this is a great debate, let’s open it up for feedback. Any crack prevention insight is welcome, please email me: max@cheesecakemax.com
Baking the Snickers cheesecake
Bake for 40 minutes on the center rack, then turn off the oven, leave the door closed, and let it sit for 40 minutes.
Take the setup out of the oven, take the Snickers cheesecake off the sheet pan and set it on a cooling rack. Immediately run a thin-bladed, sharp bladed knife around the edge of the cheesecake where it meets the pan. This will release the cheesecake from the wall of the pan, so it won’t pull apart as the cheesecake cools and shrinks away from the pan. Crack prevention.
Cooling and chilling
Leave it in the Fat Daddio, leave it on the cooling rack, and let it cool to room temp before putting it in the refrigerator. Clamminess prevention.
While it’s cooling keep it out of drafts: don’t put it under a hood fan or under an AC vent, and don’t move it around. You guessed it, more crack prevention.
When the cheesecake is at room temperature cover it loosely with aluminum foil and into the refrigerator. The loose foil will allow some air: this prevents moisture buildup which would make the cheesecake soggy.
The Snickers cheesecake will be ready for chocolate ganache tomorrow. It needs to chill overnight for the flavors to come together. Two nights even better.
Making the ganache topping
In the top of a double boiler combine the heavy cream, espresso, and chocolate. Gently heat, stirring occasionally with a thin wooden spoon or teflon spatula until it’s ganache.
You’ll know when it’s ganache.
Turn off the burner and leave the ganache on top of the double boiler.
Adding the top ganache layer
Take the Snickers cheesecake from the refrigerator and remove the foil covering. Don’t throw it away or crumple it up because it’s going right back on there.
Leave the Snickers cheesecake in the pan, you’ll be able to see that the cake has pulled away from the edge of the Fat Daddio.
When you take the double boiler pan off the hot water be sure to wipe the bottom with some paper towels; you don’t want all that condensed water running down onto the Snickers cheesecake.
Pour then spatula the ganache directly over the center of the cheesecake. Don’t use any implements to spread it around. Then pick it up and tilt the pan to swirl the ganache all around the top.
Tilt the pan far enough to let the ganache run down between the cheesecake and the wall of the pan. You remember that ride at the county fair?
Same motion.
Make sure everything’s nice and even.
Back into the refrigerator to chill for a bit and harden the ganache, then put the aluminum foil right back on there and let it hang out in the refrigerator.
Rough-small-chop the 2 ounces of Snickers for the garnish, and rough-chop the 2 ounces of unsalted peanuts. Keep them separate.
Getting the cheesecake out of the pan
Place the cheesecake on top of a medium, inverted bowl. Gently push the pan down to the countertop.
It…is…alive.
Place the Snickers cheesecake on a ten inch cardboard round and slide an offset spatula between the bottom of the crust and the parchment paper. Gently work the handle around the outside of the cheesecake; you’ll feel the whole thing let go. Slide the paper and pan bottom out from under the cheesecake, leaving the cake sitting on the cardboard round.
Dump the chopped Snickers on top (in the center) then dump the chopped peanuts on top of the Snickers.
Leave a generous unsullied edge around the cheesecake; you want folks to appreciate that great expanse of chocolate ganache.
Voila.
Snickers cheesecake.
Serving the Snickers cheesecake
With a big sharp knife cut smallish slices, this cheesecake is very rich.
Dust each slice with confectioners sugar.
Pairings: Coffee. Espresso. Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate stout. Stone Russian Imperial stout. Ice wine. Port. Cappucino. Ice cold water. And courtesy of Cosmopolitan, a wine: Lambrusco Amabile….here’s the link:
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/food-cocktails/a9622615/wine-candy-pairing-ideas/
Let’s boil it down: Once you’ve got the basics
1…Line the bottom of the 9″ Fat Daddio with a 9″ circle of parchment paper, Baker’s Joy everything. Oven at 325F.
2…Process or crush chocolate wafers, add the melted butter until crumbs are moist but not soggy. Pat gently into bottom of pan.
3…Chop X amount of Snickers into 1/4″ to 1/2″ chunks.
4…Distribute evenly over bottom of the 9″ Fat Daddio
5…Mix 2 bricks Philly at low speed, add one egg, incorporate, add the second egg, mix until incorporated.
6…Add heavy cream, sour cream and vanilla while mixing. Incorporate.
7… Add confectioners sugar, flour and pinch of salt. Just incorporate.
8… Pour batter through strainer over Snickers pieces. Any Snickers that stick up push under the batter.
9… Bake at 325F for 50 minutes, then (without opening the door) turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit for 60 minutes.
10… Remove to cooling rack, run knife around edge, cool to room temperature. Cover loosely with aluminum foil, then into refrigerator overnight.
11… Combine chocolate, heavy cream and espresso powder in the top of a double boiler. Gently heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s ganache.
12…Pour the ganache onto the center of the Snickers cheesecake and distribute by swirling the pan evenly.
13…Chop 2 ounces of Snickers and dump in the middle of the cheesecake. Chop 2 ounces of the unsalted peanuts and dump on top of the chopped Snickers. Leave exposed ganache around the perimeter.
14…Cut pieces with a big sharp knife, dust the slices with confectioners sugar.
15…Watch the Lance sequence of Pulp Fiction, starting with Travolta catching the keys. You’ll know when the sequence is over.
Enjoy!
Links:
Fat Daddios 9 X 3 cheesecake pan (2-piece) ……This is the best, most professional cheesecake pan you’ll ever own…
The Flavor Bible …….Quickly find the basic flavor combinations that will make your cheesecake inventions excellent…
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30111087/ (cooling rack)
What To Drink With What You Eat …….Food/drink combinations…essential for planning, by the authors of the Flavor Bible
Cheesecake Cookbook Bible …..Basic cheesecake recipe book
