Directions: |
Directions:First thing to do is candy the bacon. Using maple syrup or brown sugar; turn on the broiler, place bacon out onto baking sheets and coat (with your hands) each slice of bacon with sweetener of your choice. Place baking sheets and broil bacon until dark and crispy (time will vary depending on thickness of bacon but keep an eye on it as it can burn quickly). It is very important though to get your bacon very crispy, even on the edge of looking burnt. Remove bacon from broiler when it's finished and place it on a dry paper towel to dry.
As you let the bacon cool, you will want to place in a bowl the next three ingredients listed (graham crackers, butter & sugar). Mix these together well so that you can form clumps in your hands when the ingredients are squeezed. Then crumble up 5-6 pieces of the bacon and mix it into the crust. Press down the crust ingredients into a 9" spring-form pan lined with wax or parchment paper until even and flat. Bake the crust at 375º for 10 minutes or until starting to brown. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Reduce your oven temp to 300º.
While the crust is cooling, place the maple syrup into a saucepan and bring to a boil. You will want to continuously stir this with a whisk for about 7 minutes or until it is reduced by at least half (almost to a candied state). Pour this into a bowl and let stand and cool.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add the sugar, flour and salt and beat again until smooth. They you will the reduced and cooled maple syrup, sour cream and vanilla extract and blend this until it is smooth. Then you will add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just barely blended. Then you will stir (not beat) in all but 4 remaining pieces of candied bacon into the batter. Pour this onto the crust in the spring-form pan and bake at 300º for about an hour and a half or until the sides of the cake are puffy and the center trembles slightly. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Sprinkle with the remaining 4 pieces of candied bacon (crumbled) and serve! |
This recipe for Maple Bacon Cheesecake is from