GINGERBREAD CHEESECAKE WITH SPICED NUTMEG CARAMEL

Feeds – 6-8, Preparation time – 25 minutes, Cooking Time – 1.15 hrs

Ingredients
Ginger crunch crust:
300g ginger crunch biscuits – blitzed to a fine even crumb
110g salted butter – melted
3 medjool dates –stone removed

Cheesecake mixture:
3 x cream cheese pots 280g - in total 840g
1 tin pumpkin puree 350g
150g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste
zest of 1 orange plus juice of half the orange
½ tsp nutmeg
½ heaped tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
6 large free-range eggs
2 heaped tbsp plain flour

Caramel sauce:
270g caster sugar
150ml double cream
50g butter
½ fresh nutmeg grated
3tbsp spiced stem ginger plus a good glug of the syrup- ginger finely diced

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Begin by making your biscuit base. Melt your butter and set to one side. Blitz
your biscuits to a fine crumb then add in the dates and blitzed until combined.
Pour in the melted butter and thoroughly combine. Use a cake tin with removable sides and 26-28cm in size. Grease the bottom and edges of your cake tin then line with parchment. Spread the biscuit base patting it down to form a solid and even base. Bake for 8-10 minutes then remove and
allow to set.

Combine all cheesecake mixture apart from the eggs, whisk until thoroughly
combined in food processor or with an electric whisk. One by one add in the
eggs, whisking again until thoroughly combined.  Pour over your biscuit base. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes until it has a little wobble to it still. Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and allow to cool in the oven to avoid splitting.
Cool completely before removing from the tin. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Caramel Instructions
Pour sugar into a saucepan, add in 5 tbsp of water and cook over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved fully. Don’t be tempted to stir or interfere with the sugar at this point. Increase the heat cooking until it turns a caramel colour.  Remove from the heat and add in both the cream and butter, stir until you have a caramel consistency.  Add in your spices and ginger. Pour over the cheesecake and serve.