High Altitude Carrot Cake Cheesecake
This carrot cake cheesecake has a salted graham cracker and pecan base, with a layer of moist carrot cake baked right on top. The cake is then finished with no bake vanilla cheesecake filling, piped on top in beautiful swirls for an elegant presentation.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
- 9 Inch Round Cake Pan (3 inch depth)
- Food Processor or Ninja
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup finely crushed cinnamon graham crackers
- ½ cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Carrot Cake
- ½ recipe High Altitude Carrot Cake
Cheesecake
- 2 ½ blocks (20 oz) full fat block cream cheese, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 ¼ cups cold heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottom and sides of a 9x3 inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray, then line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- Using a small food processor or Ninja, finely crush the graham crackers, then finely chop the pecans or walnuts. In a bowl, combine the crushed graham crackers, nuts, brown sugar and salt. Add the melted butter, and stir until moistened.
- Press the crust mixture evenly and firmly against the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside while you make the cake batter.
Carrot Cake
- Prepare 1/2 recipe High Altitude Carrot Cake, as instructed.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, on top of the crust. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack, then remove the pan, so the bottom crust is facing up. Cool completely.
- Before finishing with the cheesecake layer, invert the cake onto a serving plate, so that the crust is on the bottom.
Cheesecake
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand held electric mixer), beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the cold heavy whipping cream. Beat on medium high speed for 1-2 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times, until very smooth, fluffy and thick enough to hold its shape.
- Fit a disposable 16-inch piping bag with tip 1M, and fill half full with the cheesecake filling. Pipe swirls on top of the carrot cake, refilling the piping bag as needed.If you don't want to use a piping bag, you can also just pile the filling on top of the carrot cake and spread it out with an offset spatula, making it smooth or swirly on top.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container or cake carrier until ready to serve.
Notes
Store leftover carrot cake cheesecake in the refrigerator in an airtight container or cake carrier for up to 3 days.
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