Carole Bloom

You will be surprised at how quick and easy it is to make real homemade caramel sauce.

This cheesecake has Classic Caramel Sauce swirled into it, which makes it flavor-rich as well as visually exciting. The crust, made with toasted walnuts, provides a perfect balance of both flavor and texture. Because the cake needs time to cool and chill, I recommend making it at least a day in advance of when you plan to serve it.

These intensely flavored dark chocolate brownies are spread with a layer of caramel then topped with bittersweet chocolate ganache.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Carole Bloom's book The Essential Baker.

One of my favorite treats when I was growing up was malted milk balls. I couldn't seem to get enough of them. I vividly remember biting through the crunchy exterior of milk chocolate to find the malt ball inside. Yum! I still love the flavor of malt and believe it goes well with milk chocolate. This cheesecake is inspired by those malted milk balls I loved as a child. It's dense and creamy, with a crunchy cookie crust and a deep malt flavor. As with other cheesecakes, this one has to be made in advance of serving because it needs hours to cool and chill. But it also freezes beautifully, so you can make it well in advance of when you plan to serve it.