Cake? Bar? Cookie? Pie? It's your birthday.

The plain cheesecake in all its glory.

When a friend or relative celebrates a birthday, I think it's important to offer a treat of some sort. I think birthday cakes are lovely, but I don't love cake; I love icing. I typically offer a cake, bar, cookie or pie to the celebrant. You can have a chocolate cake, a plate of cookies, some blonde brownies or perhaps a pecan pie. Gone are the days of just a big old cake with a few candles stuck in it. If that's what you want, fine. But it's your birthday, so I'll give you a choice.
Often folks want the cakes that they don't get to have very often ... well, the homemade version anyway. Many of my friends like carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Others like red velvet, some like something more pedestrian, like a chocolate chip cookie.
For Barry's birthday, which is today, he asked for a cheesecake. I make a pretty standard cheesecake but pretty it up with caramel topping, ganache and chopped pecans. It has all the ingredients of a turtle confection only it sits on top of a creamy, sweet cheesecake. In the sugar and fat department, it's an overload. But the cheesecake feeds a crowd and it's very festive.
Here's the recipe for the cheesecake (which is chilling in the fridge right now) along with the ganache and the caramel topping.
This is a good recipe on its own, unadorned. But it would also be good with some fresh berries or even a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

The lovely cheesecake with a big pile of caramel.

And some chopped pecans ...

And some ganache. Delicious!

Crust:
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
11/2 graham cracker crumbs
Mix ingredients together and press into well greased 10 inch springform pan. Place in freezer.
Cake:
11/2 cups sugar
4 packages cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix the sugar with the cream cheese until well blended. Add the cream and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the flour, sour cream and vanilla. Mix well until filling is fluffy and blended. Pour into crust.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour, shut the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for 5 hours (yes, 5).
Remove from oven and chill at least 24 hours before serving.
Caramel topping:
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Melt the butter and the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan. Allow to simmer for about a minute and then add the cream. Allow the caramel to simmer for another minute, stirring well. Remove from heat and allow to cool at room temperature. Stir it every 15 minutes or so so that it doesn't separate. It will continue to thicken.
(BTW: this is awesome on ice cream. But be careful .. you will just want to make it all the time to eat with a spoon, right out of the pan.)
Ganache:
Heat 1 cup heavy cream over medium high heat until bubbles form around the rim. Pour hot cream over 1 cup chocolate chips. Stir well until all of the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool.
When the cake is cooled, spread the caramel on top. Chop 1 cup of pecans finely and sprinkle around the outside of the cake; the caramel will hold them in place. Make a design with the ganache on top of the caramel.
I put some of the ganache in a plastic bag and snip off one end. I make a few lines across the cake and then pull a knife through it to make a groovy design.