Turtle Cheesecake

Photos by Carrie S.

Recipe found on verybestbaking.com

When I was in Boise I went to a Chicago Pizza joint in downtown with my sister-in-law.  I was looking over the dessert section and they had this cheesecake decked out with caramel, chocolate, pecans and the kitchen sink practically.  I set out to find a similar cheesecake recipe and this one is pretty amazing.  It looks daunting but is not as complicated as it seems.  For the toppings if you want to make your own caramel sauce and chocolate sauce the more power to you.  For the crust that goes up the sides I use a flat sided measuring cup that has a perfect 90 degree angle on the corner bottom.  I push the graham cracker mixture over from the middle and press the cup up against the sides to have it perfectly even.  Also, this will make it so you won't get your hands all buttery and have your fingers accidentally hit what you've already set for the crust..  The measuring cup is the perfect height of where the crust needs to go up when you push it up against the sides.  I hope this makes sense.  You can also use a cup that has a good 90 degree edge.

Turtle Cheesecake

Prep: 40 mins

Cooking: 70 mins

Cooling: 180 mins

Yields:14 servings

Ingredients
CRUST
1 3/4 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

FILLING
3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
2 tablespoons NESTLÉ NESQUIK Chocolate Flavor Syrup
2 tablespoons caramel syrup or ice cream topping
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels