It's safe to say I have been majorly slacking on the blog front this year. What can I say? Life happens. Between moving, promotions at work (regular work, because I have a 9-5 in addition to this blogging madness), car accidents, medical issues, new relationships and traveling, the blog has gotten lost in the shuffle.
I absolutely love all things dulce de leche and I also love cheesecake. So I knew I had to come up with a dulce de leche cheesecake recipe. I put my culinary school training to the test and tried my luck at this recipe 6 times. After 6 recipe tests, I came to the perfect dulce de leche cheesecake that has the perfect amount of dulce de leche flavor with the rich cheesecake texture.
What is dulce de leche?
Dulce de leche is cooked sweetened condensed milk. Different countries call it by different names like manjar, kajmak, confiture de lait or arequipe. The sweetened condensed milk is cooked until it reaches a rich caramel color with a spreadable consistency.
It's easy to make and you can check out my 30 minute InstantPot recipe for it here.
Dulce De Leche Cheesecake Recipe Ingredients
For the Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake
- Cream cheese
- Granulated white sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Vanilla bean paste
- Lemon curd
- Salt
- Large eggs
- Whole milk
- Dulce de leche at room temperature
How to Make Dulce De Leche Cheesecake
Make the crust
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 8 inch springform pan.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the crust and mix until the melted butter has coated all of the graham crackers.
- Press crumb mixture into greased pan evenly.
- Bake in over for 8 minutes and then set aside.
Make the cheesecake
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla bean paste, salt and lemon curd using an electric mixer until very well combined. Add the whole eggs and egg yolk one at a time then add in dulce de leche and mix on low speed, continue mixing until incorporated for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the the springform pan with your prepared crust and place in the center oven rack. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until the center appears nearly set when shaken.
- Once removed from the oven, run a greased knife along the interior of the springform pan to ensure the sides don't stick and you don't develop any cracks in the cheesecake.
- Allow your cheesecake to cool completely before removing the sides of the pan. Place cheesecake in the refrigerator for 4 hours in order to chill completely.
- Drizzle additional dulce de leche over the top of the cheesecake if desired. Since dulce de leche has a very thick consistency, place the dulce de leche in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Place your cheesecake back in the refrigerator to allow the drizzled dulce de leche to set.
Make the whipped cream
- Right before serving, prepare your whipped cream. Place the heavy cream, dulce de leche, salt and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- You can layer it smoothly on top of the cheesecake, or use a piping bag to decorate how you wish.
How to decorate your dulce de leche cheesecake
I kept the decorations for this cheesecake simple. I made a dulce de leche whipped cream and piped it using a Wilton 2D piping tip. I topped the cheesecake with a layer of dulce de leche and the whipped cream.
What to serve with this Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake Recipe
Here are some delicious pairings for your Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake:
Espresso: The rich, bold flavor of espresso complements the creamy sweetness of cheesecake, creating a harmonious balance.
Cinnamon Latte: The warm, spicy notes of cinnamon in the cinnamon dolce latte complement the sweet and creamy flavors of the cheesecake and dulce de leche.
Storage
If you're planning on eating this dulce de leche cheesecake in the next couple of days, I like to store all of my cakes in an airtight cake container. It helps to keep the cake fresh. If you've already cut into the cheesecake, I like to place plastic wrap along the sides of the exposed cheesecake to avoid it from drying out.
If you're looking for a long-term storage solution, you'll need to freeze it. To freeze it you'll need to:
- Remove the sides of the springform pan before you leave the cheesecake to freeze in the freeze.
- Let it sit in the freezer uncovered for an hour.
- After an hour, take the cheesecake out of the freezer and separate it from the bottom of the pan.
- Once you remove the frozen cheesecake from the pan, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.
- After you've wrapped it in plastic wrap, wrap it in aluminum foil.
To defrost the whole frozen cheesecake, take it out of the freezer and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. If you are defrosting individual slices, you can defrost them in a refrigerator or at room temperature for an hour before serving.
What else can you use dulce de leche for?
Besides being the star of this cheesecake, you can use dulce de leche as a dip for some fried apple empanadas or use it for other desserts such as this coffee cake.
Check out these other recipes
Best Dulce De Leche Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
- For the crust:
- 1 ¾ cups of of crushed cinnamon graham crackers-
- ½ cup of melted butter
- ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Pinch of salt
- For the cheesecake:
- 3 8 oz packages of regular cream cheese do NOT go for reduced fat at room temperature-
- 1 cup of granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste vanilla extract will suffice
- 1 tablespoon of lemon curd
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ cup of whole milk
- 1 heaping cup of dulce de leche at room temperature
- extra dulce de leche for drizzling optional
- For the whipped cream:
- ½ cup of heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ cup of dulce de leche at room temperature
- ¼ cup of powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 8 inch springform pan. In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the crust and mix until the melted butter has coated all of the graham crackers. Press crumb mixture into greased pan evenly. Bake in over for 8 minutes and then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla bean paste, salt and lemon curd using an electric mixer until very well combined. Add the whole eggs and egg yolk one at a time then add in dulce de leche and mix on low speed, continue mixing until incorporated for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the the springform pan with your prepared crust and place in the center oven rack. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until the center appears nearly set when shaken.
- Once removed from the oven, run a greased knife along the interior of the springform pan to ensure the sides don't stick and you don't develop any cracks in the cheesecake.
- Allow your cheesecake to cool completely before removing the sides of the pan. Place cheesecake in the refrigerator for 4 hours in order to chill completely.
- Drizzle additional dulce de leche over the top of the cheesecake if desired. Since dulce de leche has a very thick consistency, place the dulce de leche in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Place your cheesecake back in the refrigerator to allow the drizzled dulce de leche to set.
- Right before serving, prepare your whipped cream. Place the heavy cream, dulce de leche, salt and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix using a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. You can layer it smoothly on top of the cheesecake, or use a piping bag to decorate how you wish.
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