Weathertop Lodge
Bed and Breakfast

Waitsfield, Vermont

Specialty Recipe

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients

2 cups pecans

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

26 caramels

1-1/2 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

Four 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup chilled whipping cream

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Finely grind nuts and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until moist crumbs form. Press crumb mixture onto bottom only of springform pan. Cook caramels and milk until melted. Drizzle over crust. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just to combine after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Pour filling into crust. Bake until top appears dry and cheesecake no longer moves in center when pan is shaken, about 1 hour. Cool, cover and refrigerate over night. Release pan sides from cheesecake. Beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in medium bowl to stiff peaks. Spoon whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe rosettes of cream decoratively around upper edge of cheesecake. I do not put the cream on.

• You found this recipe on 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (www.virtualcities.com)