Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.

Place the graham cracker in a food processor and process to obtain fine crumbs.

Add the brown sugar and mix to combine.

Melt the butter and mix with the crumbs and sugar.

Press the mixture on the bottom of an 8” or 9” cheesecake pan. If using an 8” springform pan, it must be deep.

Bake the crust in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove it from the oven and let it cool down.

Grease the sides of the cheesecake pan. (Read notes)

Beat the cream cheese for 3 minutes with a mixer at medium speed, until creamy.

Add the granulated sugar to the bowl.

Split the vanilla bean pods in half with a pairing knife then open them and scrape the seeds from into the bowl with the sugar and cream cheese.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla bean seeds, and sugar for 2 minutes at medium speed.

Scrape the bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.

Add the sour cream and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl.

Make sure to scrape the bowl a few times during the mixing process, to avoid the cream cheese from forming lumps in the batter.

Add the eggs one at a time to the bowl, mixing until incorporated before adding the next one.

Avoid over mixing once the eggs are added, to prevent cracking of the cheesecake.

Add the vanilla extract (and or vanilla bean paste), salt, and mix briefly.

Pour the cheesecake batter in the pan, over the baked and cooled crust.

Wrap the bottom of the pan with a few layers of foil.

Place the pan in a larger roasting pan, and add hot water to the roasting pan, to form a water bath. This is very important so the cheesecake doesn’t crack.

Bake the cheesecake in the pre-heated 325ºF oven for 60 to 75 minutes.

To check if the cheesecake is done baking, give the pan a little wiggle, it should jiggle slightly in the center, but the edges should look set.

Turn the oven off, and leave the cheesecake in there for 1 hour.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven, let it cool down. Don’t remove the ring of the pan yet, place the cheesecake in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours.

After the cheesecake has been done chilling, remove from the fridge. Remove the ring from around the pan.

Sprinkle the sugar on an even layer on top of the cheesecake. Use a torch to caramelize the sugar on top. I like to use my torch on the lowest setting and do this step slowly, to avoid burned spots on the surface.

Use a circular motion, and don’t hover over one spot for too long, keep it moving, trying to get the whole surface of the cheesecake evenly.

Allow for the caramelized sugar to harden up on top, which should take a few minutes. Slice and serve.

If you have cheesecake leftovers, the caramelized sugar on top will become soft. I found that if you take the torch and toast the top of the cheesecake again, using a low setting, it should harden the sugar up again. It won’t be as crunchy as it was when you first did it, but it will do the trick.