Big Mamas birthday bonanza. Caramel, White Chocolate, Praline, Cheesecake...

30 performers converge on a little Japanese home restaurant in Urayasu called Big Mamas.
It is totally my kind of place, homey feel, the menu is lined up along the bar top in pots, there is ghetto goodness playing on the stereo and Big mama is prepping, serving drinks, cooking, doing dishes and dishing plates all on her own in her overalls.
This woman is awesome. The food is awesome and genre less changing every day apparently!

We are celebrating a gorgeous dancer friends birthday and I have made him a birthday cake that I would make for my own birthday. 

 We bonded over our mutual love of all things Caramel and so there was really only one option for his birthday cake.

CARAMEL, WHITE CHOCOLATE, PRALINE, CHEESECAKE

 SCRIPT:
 Melted butter, to grease
1 x 250g pkt butternut snaps or caramelised lotus biscuits
125g butter, melted
1 1/2 tbs boiling water
3 tsp powdered gelatin
3 x 250g pkts cream cheese, at room temperature
200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
40g butter
3/4C large white chocolate buttons broken up by hand

Almond praline
Vegetable oil, to grease
1 x 100g pkt slivered almonds
215g (1 cup) caster sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) water

 METHOD:

Brush a 24cm (base measurement) spring form pan with melted butter to lightly grease. (I will line the tin with baking paper next time for ease of extraction)

Place biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add butter and process until well combined. 

Transfer mixture to the prepared pan. Use a glass to spread and press mixture firmly over the base and side of pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Place boiling water in a heatproof glass. Sprinkle with gelatin and stir with a fork until gelatin dissolves. (only prepare gelatin when you are almost ready to add it to the mix or it will set hard)

Use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese and 155g (3/4 cup) of the sugar in a medium bowl until smooth.

Combine condensed milk, butter and remaining sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens and turns a caramel colour. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.

Add gelatin to cream-cheese mixture and stir until well combined. Add the caramel and fold until caramel is broken up and well distributed through the cream-cheese mixture. 

Stir in broken up white chocolate buttons

Spoon into the biscuit base and smooth the surface. Place in the fridge for 4 hours to set.

Meanwhile, to make the almond praline, preheat oven to 200°C.
Brush a baking tray with oil to lightly grease.
Scatter almonds over prepared tray. 
Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes or until toasted.
Remove from oven.

Combine caster sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and gently boil, without stirring, occasionally brushing down the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water, for 15 minutes or until golden.  
Remove from heat and set aside until bubbles subside.
Pour hot toffee over almonds.
Set aside for 15 minutes to cool completely.

Coarsely chop almond praline.
Sprinkle cheesecake with praline and cut into wedges to serve.

My cake only had an hour and a half to set and then was transported to big mamas where it had to fight for time and space in her limited fridge space.  

It never did set but it didn't need to.
I extracted it from the pan after running a knife around the edge (next time I'll set the tin with baking paper)

We ate it with forks in a communal way feeding each other in a big crowd around the birthday boy!  

Best tasting piece of heaven I've ever made..!