Laura’s Dulce De Leche Cheesecake
By • January 26, 2023 0 2178
Who doesn’t love a homemade cheesecake? This recipe for dulce de leche cheesecake is absolutely delicious. It’s a baked cheesecake and uses the traditional burnt basque cheesecake method. And, it’s quick, delicious, and easy to make.
This is a great recipe for those who don’t want to have to make prepared crust but love cheesecake. Perks of baking the cheesecake this way? You don’t need a pie crust or a crust of any kind (which means you won’t end up with a soggy crust). I know some people love a graham cracker crust (I do too), but, it simply does not work with burnt basque cheesecakes. You also don’t need to worry about a hot water bath! Which is so great because dealing with a hot water bath can be such a pain for those who are not experienced with it. There’s always the question of, do you place the springform pan directly into the hot water bath or do you place springform pan above a hot water bath? Let’s dive in!
Is Dulce De Leche the Same as Caramel?
The main difference is that dulce de leche is made from sweetened condensed milk (or milk and sugar) whereas caramel is made from caramel and water. Condensed milk is made from cows’ milk but has had the water removed from it, and has sugar added.
If you cannot find dulce de leche at your grocery store, you could substitute a sweetened condensed milk or caramel if you wish. However, it’s generally readily available.
So, What is Dulce De Leche?
Dulce de leche is a cooked-down sweetened condensed milk that’s really popular in South America. One of my friends, Belen, is from Argentina and incorporates dulce de leche into many of her recipes. You can see them here.
Recipe Notes:
If you don’t have some of the ingredients, you may be wondering if you could substitute any. If you don’t have dulce de leche, then you may use sweetened condensed milk. Sadly, there are not many replacements for the heavy cream, or the cream cheese. The heavy cream helps build up the dulce de leche cheesecake batter, and the cream cheese is of course integral to the dessert.
I like to bake with King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten-free flour. However, any 1:1 gluten-free flour will do for this dulce de leche cheesecake.
Cheesecake Tips:
The type of baking pan you’ll use for this recipe is a springform pan. It’s not a large baking pan, but rather, an 8-9 inch cake pan or tin. This is the only type of baking pan you’ll use for a burnt basque cheesecake! That’s because when it’s done baking, you’ll unlock the springform pan and lift the circular mold up, and just slice your cake! Which is super easy. If you don’t have a springform pan, they’re available in most cookery stores and are definitely available online!
What if I want to make this recipe into mini cheesecakes? You absolutely can! Please read my recipe here for instructions on how to do just that.
Can I Use Aluminum Foil Instead of Parchment Paper?
No, you should 100 percent not use aluminum foil. Aluminum foil, while nonstick, is not the best solution when you’re using a decent amount of heat. As this dulce de leche cheesecake is a baked cheesecake, you don’t want to surround it with aluminum foil. Stick with the parchment paper.
Now if you’re thinking “can I use plastic wrap?” to store this recipe, then yes. you can. If you wish to wrap the entirety of the cake or individual slices in plastic wrap that is doable. See below for my suggestions for how soon after the cake should be eaten. If you do not use plastic wrap but an eco-friendly alternative, I’d suggest you use an airtight container instead.
This recipe only really requires one large bowl. It’s the bowl of a stand mixer. You’ll make the cheesecake filling all in this one bowl!
What to Serve with This Dulce De Leche Cheesecake?
If you’re wondering what to serve this dulce de leche cheesecake with, then Dulce de leche topping is super delicious! You could also go with a whipped cream! If you don’t have dulce de leche, I would not substitute sweetened condensed milk as a topping.
Because this is a burnt basque cheesecake recipe (or a San Sebastian cheesecake recipe), as stated above there is no crust. Which for the following reasons is great!
- You don’t need to wait for the cooled crust to add the cheesecake mixture.
- There’s no butter in this recipe. Usually, melted butter (salted butter or unsalted butter) is used in combination with graham crackers (or you take the butter and combine cookie crumbs) to form the crust. It eliminates these steps so you can get to working on the cheesecake mixture.
- Burnt Basque Cheesecakes are known for being a creamy cheesecake. It’s due to the way it’s baked in addition to the heavy cream, but, who doesn’t love a creamy cheesecake?
Ingredients
You’ll need the following:
- 3 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened cream cheese; you can use full fat cream cheese or a low fat cream cheese
- 1 cup cream, I use heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup dulce de leche
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, I like to use an authentic vanilla extract however if all you can find is the clear synthetic vanilla extract, then that’s fine
- ¼ cup gluten-free flour, I used King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour
*prepared pan – use a springform pan
*stand mixer (or a mixer with a beater); please do not use a food processor
For the full recipe and instructions go to Sift.
