Bananas Foster Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

• servings: 12 servings
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 7 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups (355 grams or 27 oatmeal cookies (or graham crackers)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional)

1/2 cups (113 grams) unsalted butter (melted)

4 8-ounce packages (904 grams) cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup (205 grams) light brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt

4 large eggs (room temperature)

1 tablespoon dark rum (or rum extract)

1 tablespoon banana liqueur (or banana extract)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups (350 grams or 3 large) bananas (very ripe, peeled and mashed)

1/2 cup (60 grams) cornstarch

4 tablespoons (57 grams) salted butter (or unsalted butter and a pinch of kosher salt)

1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (60 milliliters) dark rum

2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) banana liqueur

2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) heavy cream (room temperature)

whipped cream (recipe linked in post)

chopped walnuts

dehydrated banana slices

Directions

Prepare the Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C).In a mixing bowl, use a rubber spatula or your hand to combine the oatmeal cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until they hold together.

Grab a handful of the crust and squeeze your hand into a fist. If the crust holds together firmly, transfer the mixture to a 9-inch springform pan. If, on the other hand, the crust immediately falls apart after you release your fist, add more butter until it reaches the proper consistency. On the contrary, if butter oozes from between your fingers when you squeeze, dry out the mixture by adding more of the oatmeal cookie crumbs (a tablespoon at a time).

Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the crust into the bottom of cheesecake pan creating a 1/4-inch side border as you form the crust. Once the crust is formed, bake it for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

After the crust is baked, remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool. Keep the oven on for baking the cheesecake.

Once the pan is cool enough to handle, wrap the bottom and side in 2 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Set the crust aside while you prepare the cheesecake batter.

Make the Banana Cheesecake

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a mixing bowl), use the paddle attachment to blend together the cream cheese, brown sugar, nutmeg, and salt on low speed.

Once the mixture is free of lumps, add the eggs, one a time, to the bowl. Blend the batter until each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg. Continue adding the eggs, scraping down both the bowl and beaters in this manner.

Add the vanilla, dark rum, and banana liqueur with the final egg. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl again. Add the mashed bananas to the batter. Blend the banana into the batter at low speed, before adding the cornstarch. Blend the mixture at low speed just until the cornstarch is blended in. Don't over-mix the batter after adding the cornstarch, or it will result in a gummy texture.

Bake, then Gradually Cool the Banana Cheesecake

Pour the banana cheesecake batter into the cooled oatmeal cookie crust. Level the batter in the pan to make sure the surface is even. Set the foil-wrapped cheesecake pan into a pan that has a larger circumference. Pour boiling water into the outer pan and carefully slide the whole set up into your preheated oven. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour 15 minutes.

After the bake time has elapsed, turn the oven off and prop open the door. Gradually cool the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour.

After an hour of cooling in the oven, remove the cheesecake from the oven. Remove the cheesecake pan from the water-filled pan, then remove the aluminum foil from the cheesecake pan.Allow the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for a half-hour. Once the cheesecake reaches room temp, cover it and refrigerate it for 4 hours-24 hours before slicing it.

Prepare the Caramel Rum Sauce

Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Once the butter melts, whisk in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Slowly cook the brown sugar, stirring every 30 seconds or so to encourage it to dissolve. It will go from looking like a gritty paste to curdled within 2 minutes.

After 3-4 minutes of cooking over medium-low, the sugar will begin to dissolve and mix with the butter.Once the sugar dissolves- it will look like thick gravy- and begins to mix with the butter, add the dark rum and banana liqueur to the pan. Heat the alcohol for 20 seconds.

Turn off the stove and use a long-handled lighter or match to light the alcohol in the pan. Remember to keep, anything flammable (hair, clothing, cabinetry, your arms and face) away from the pan as you light the alcohol!Without stirring or tilting the pan, allow the liquor to ignite and burn out on its own. Once the flame dies out, whisk the caramel again. The sauce should be a beautiful brown color at this point.

With the heat still off, whisk in the room temperature heavy cream. Allow the sauce to cool for one hour for a thinner sauce or refrigerate it overnight for a very thick caramel sauce.

Garnish and Enjoy the Bananas Foster Cheesecake

Remove the collar of the springform pan and smooth the sides of the chilled cheesecake. Spoon the caramel rum sauce onto the surface of the cheesecake.

Use a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip to pipe a border of vanilla whipped cream onto the cheesecake's edgeArrange dried banana slices and chopped walnuts on the whipped cream border to complete the decoration.

Slice and enjoy within 3 days of slicing or 4 days after baking. Refrigerate leftover cheesecake.

Nutrition

• Calories: 548 kcal
• Total Fat: 24 g
• Saturated Fat: 11 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Cholesterol: 105 mg
• Sodium: 358 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 73 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 41 g
• Protein: 5 g