Gluten-Free Turtle Cheesecake

Ingredients

• Filling: For the filling you'll need cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
• Crust: For the crust you need gluten-free graham crackers or crunchy cookies, butter, and sugar. I like to use the Simple Mills Honey Cinnamon Sweet Thins or Pamela's Gluten-Free Honeygrahams. In the past, I've used Annie's Vanilla and Chocolate Bunny Grahams. Gluten-free Oreo cookies would work as well.
• Topping: Caramel sundae sauce, hot fudge sauce, and pecans. The caramel sauce can be especially tricky, since I have seen some with barley. Just check your labels and make sure there are no gluten ingredients.

Make the Cheesecake Crust

1. First things first, prep the pan.  Use a 9-inch springform pan-the size of the pan is important for baking times! Line the pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray, getting the sides of the pan greased as well so the filling doesn't stick.
2. Use a food processor or rolling pin to crush up one 8 ounce box of your favorite gf graham crackers or crunchy cookies. You'll need about 1-¾ cup of crumbs. Mix the crumbs with melted butter and sugar.
3. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake until golden brown and then set aside to chill while you make the filling.

Making the Cheesecake Filling

5. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and sugar. The key is making sure the cream cheese is completely softened to room temperature.  The other ingredients should also be at, or near, room temperature as well.  This helps everything mix together smoothly without lumps.  
6. Then in a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla.
7. Blend the egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture. Don't overmix, and scrape the bowl to make sure the everything is evenly combined.
8. Pour the mixture in to the pre-baked crust. Prepare a water bath, then bake and cool according to the recipe card below. This is very important to the final outcome.

9. Once your cheesecake is properly cooled, you can remove the chilled cheesecake from the pan and add the turtle toppings. Start with a drizzle with caramel sauce.
10. Then, add a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Microwave the sauce for a few seconds if it's too thick to drizzle.
11. Finish with a sprinkle of toasted pecans.
12. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Why You Need a Water Bath

If you want a smooth and creamy cheesecake, you need to bake your cake in a water bath. The water gently insulates the cake so the edges don't overbake before the center sets, while adding moisture that helps prevent cracks. The result is a flat, evenly baked cheesecake every time.

How to Make a Water Bath That Doesn't Leak

The only issue I've had with water baths is that they can leak into your springform pan and make your crust soggy. This is obviously not ideal.

Many people will say to cover the pan with foil. For me, this was not working because one sheet was not wide enough to cover the entire pan and the water would get in between the layers.

For a while I was placing my pan inside an oven bag and letting that act as a barrier between the water and the cake. That seemed to work well, but lately, I'm finding even those bags tend to leak.

The solution I've finally found that works is extra wide heavy duty foil. The foil is 18-inches wide, which is large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan with one piece. It's also thicker, and less prone to tearing.

How to Prepare a Water Bath

1. Before adding your cheesecake filling, place the pan on a double layer of extra wide heavy duty foil. Wrap the foil up around the sides of the pan, ensuring that the entire bottom and sides of the pan are covered and there are no tears.
2. Add your filling on top of the crust.
3. Carefully place the pan inside a large roasting pan or any pan a few inches larger than your springform pan.
4. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan so that it fills about halfway up the sides of the springform pan, taking care not to get water in the cheesecake.
5. Carefully slide the pans into the oven to bake.

Removing the Cheesecake from the Pan

Before removing the cake from the pan, you must allow the cheesecake to cool completely to allow it to set up.  Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 6 hours or overnight before removing it from the pan.

The picture below is from my gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake and shows you how to remove a cheesecake from the pan, including from the base of the springform pan.

1. Remove the sides from the springform pan. Cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment paper.  
2. Place a flat plate on top of the parchment covered cake.
3. Invert the cake and remove the bottom of the springform pan.
4. Then remove the parchment paper from the crust.
5. Place a serving plate on top of the inverted cake and then flip it all back over.
6. The cake should now be resting right side up on your serving plate.  Remove the parchment paper from the top of the cake... and voila!  You are now the proud owner of a beautiful cheesecake on a serving plate!

Storage

Store the cheesecake in the fridge until serving. It will keep for 3-4 days, but I usually plan to serve it within a day or two.

To make it more than a few days ahead, prepare the cheesecake but wait to add the toppings. Freeze the entire cheesecake, tightly wrapped. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then top before serving.

Individual slices can be frozen and enjoyed later as well.

More Gluten-Free Recipes You'll Love

For more pecan inspiration, try my gluten-free pecan pie or gluten-free pecan tassies. For all of my cheesecake variations, check out my gluten-free cakes page!