Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

I just spent the weekend in beautiful Cleveland, Mississippi with Garrett, my buddy of several years, enjoying some mighty fine Mississippi Delta cuisine. However, the subject of this post doesn't exactly have its roots in the Delta...

I knew Garrett is a huge fan of dulce de leche, and I decided to pull out one of my (new) favorite recipes: Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. I discovered this recipe a while back, and I decided to try it for an English department Cinco de Mayo party a few weeks ago. Much to my excitement, it was a huge hit, and I couldn't wait to make it again.

You might think that the combination of cheesecake with the caramel-y goodness that is dulce de leche would be cloyingly sweet, but believe me, this recipe has a perfect balance of sweetness while maintaining a rich luxuriance.

If you want to experience this decadence for yourself, here is my version of the recipe. I did some tweaking with the original recipe I found, and well, I'll just say it -- I like my version better.

Part 1: Making the Dulce de Leche

There are many methods to making dulce de leche, but this one is my particular favorite. Take two cans of condensed milk, and peel away the labels. Place the cans (unopened) in a crock pot half-filled with water. Set the crock pot on "low" and let the condensed milk simmer for 8 hours.

Then, carefully remove the cans from the water and let them cool for at least an hour. I urge you, DO NOT skip this step, lest you want scalding hot dulce de leche to explode all over you. Don't ask me how I know this...

Once the cans are cooled, open them and pour the contents into a storage container and reserve for later use. The condensed milk should be caramelized at this point, having a medium-brown color and a thick, rich consistency.

Part 2: Making the Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups crushed ginger snaps
1 stick of butter (melted)
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Filling:
3 packages of cream cheese
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
Reserved dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the bottom and sides tightly with aluminum foil. Then, in a mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour the mixture into the pan and press it along the bottom until it has formed a crust.

Before preparing the filling, make sure the cream cheese has softened a bit and is close to room temperature. Combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Then mix in the flour, milk, vanilla, and eggs. Next, add around 2/3 of the reserved dulce de leche (just eyeball it -- it doesn't have to be precise), and beat the mixture until smooth. If you need to soften the dulce de leche a little, just place it in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir before adding to the batter. Once you have finished mixing the filling, pour into the prepared crust.

Place the springform pan in a larger oven-safe pan, and add water to the larger pan until it's about 1 inch deep. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the filling has set. Then, remove the springform pan from the larger pan, and allow it to cool for an hour or longer.

Once the cheesecake has cooled, spread the remaining dulce de leche on top of the cake in an even layer. I recommend letting the finished product chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before cutting and serving.

And there you have it! Admittedly, it's pretty time-intensive, but so very definitely worth it. I wish I had pictures to share with you, but photography didn't cross my mind at the time... Hindsight and whatnot. However, for future recipes, I will be sure to provide photographs!