Biscoff Dulce de Leche Meringue Cheesecake
Perfect Timing
Never would I have thought that the thin spiced cookies that have saved my life in many flights would become one of the best cheesecake crust I have ever made. Because they have more fat than graham crackers, the consistency of this crust is softer, almost cakey, and blends so deliciously when mixed with the cheesecake. I thought dulce de leche would pair perfectly with them. Both have notes of warm and spiced caramel. The Italian meringue on top makes this cheesecake something so good you will make sure a big piece remains on your fridge before sharing it with anyone!
This recipe has been in my notebook for a few weeks now. I’m very happy to finally share it with you, just in time for the holidays. As you probably know by now, I have been working on launching The Cooking Course, and I have been swimming in the sea of all the technological and business aspects of it, which I am really bad at both!
This course has been in my to-do list for years and I can’t believe it's finally happening! This course is exactly how I think anyone should approach cooking, how I approach cooking. Making it has been something aspirational on my mind. And now that I realize it’s finally happening I feel a bit scared and definitely relieved. I feel empowered. I feel excited about being able to move forward with other things I want to do here in The Yellow Butterfly for you. I feel like another chapter of my blog is being written. The anticipation is very high!
If you’ve been wanting to do something I suggest you create a parenthesis and do it! Time will always make the way when you decide that the moment has come! If the universe is putting the urgency in your heart, it’s because it needs to be done!
We can say the same about a good cheesecake. If you’ve been wanting to make one for a while now, or better yet, have never made one and have always wanted to cross that from your to-do list, what better time and excuse than with the holidays approaching? This is a crowd-pleaser dessert that still has a unique flair. Dulce de Leche and biscoff cookies together in a cheesecake? I think you are already in!
My cheesecakes are always super silky, luscious, creamy but still they always feel light. That’s the word from so many that have tasted one or that have made one themselves. Please if you are one of them, say hi in the comments! Making a cheesecake is really simple, I promise, but you need to pay attention to some details to achieve that incredible texture I’m talking about. Read on so you can prepare ahead all the this and thats that you need to take care of when making this.
Making a Biscoff Dulce de Leche Meringue Cheesecake
The first thing you should do is to take out the cream cheese blocks from the fridge to make them very soft. This is key in preventing big lumps of cheesecake that can cause big bubbles in the final batter. As soon as they start to soften, I like to use a table knife to flatten them out, about half as high, so they get softer faster. If you need a shortcut, warm them in the microwave only for 10 to 15 seconds at the beginning. You don’t want separated cream cheese in your cheesecake batter.
This cheesecake is baked bain-marie style, which means it's surrounded by water through the baking process. You need to wrap as tight as possible with aluminum foil the outside of the pan, all the way to the top. Cut a long piece of foil and put the pan in the center. Cover it tightly. Rotate the pan 180° and repeat so you cover the least covered area. Repeat a third time by just rotating the pan about 90° to cover any exposed or not sealed enough areas. Sometimes I use a fourth piece of foil, depending on how well it's covered. At the end press tightly towards the pan.
Make the biscoff crust and press it in the springform pan. For a very neat and tight crust, press the crumbs with a flat-bottom small cup. Place pan in a baking sheet to handle it better when hot. As soon as you take out the baked crust out of the oven, increase its temperature to 425°. Let it cool down while you make the cheesecake filling. Note: if you need to do a traditional graham cracker crust, find my recipe for it here, just omit the basil.
Finish gathering all you need for the cheesecake. Note for when separating the eggs: drop the egg whites in a Ziplock bag and freeze them flat. Thaw them in a bowl with tap hot water when ready to make the meringue. Egg whites can be frozen for months. Most of my meringues are made with frozen egg whites.
Cheesecakes are basically custards, and custards don't like air! You need to mix gently and not too much. The key to having a rich and decadent but still light cheesecake is to mix with a wire instead of the paddle. Mix the cream cheeses only for 2 minutes in medium-low speed. Increase the temperature a notch for 10 seconds to release big chunks of cheese in the wire, only if necessary.
Bring the speed to the lowest and add the rest of the ingredients according to the recipe. Super important to keep scraping the walls and bottom of the bowl at different stages to prevent big chunks of cream cheese not getting properly mixed. Pour the batter over the crust. Fill the baking sheet with water halfway through. Transfer to oven already in 425°.
You will bake for 7 minutes in 425° and then decrease the temperature to 275°. Remember how I told you cheesecakes are custards? Another thing of custards is that they need to be baked in lower temperatures to get that silky and creamy texture we all love. The first 7 minutes at high temperature are for sealing the cheesecake and making the steam from the baine-marie going. The cheesecake is done when the border looks set and glossy and the center is a bit wobbly. Don’t be afraid of this! Trust me, it is done even if shaking in the center.
Another good idea to prevent cracking is to let the cheesecake start the cooling down process inside the turned-off oven. Cheesecakes don't like drastic changes of temperature. I live in the tropics so I don’t blame them! Leave it inside the oven with the door halfway through opened for 10 to 15 minutes, then take it out and let it cool down completely before chilling.
You can do this cheesecake 2, 3 even 4 days in advance. The interesting thing is that it keeps getting creamier with time!
Smear canned dulce de leche on top before serving. If you don’t find any, use salted caramel sauce instead.
As a reminder, meringue is never optional in my cheesecakes, haha!! Seriously, you can leave it out but why would you if you will already have two leftover egg whites from the cheesecake?!!
We can agree no matter what’s going on in your life, the time for making this cheesecake is now! It will be so worth it! Wishing you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving my friends!
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Biscoff Dulce de Leche Meringue Cheesecake
Ingredients
Biscoff cookie crust
◯ Butter (salted or unsalted) - 8 Tbsp, 113g
◯ Biscoff cookies - 27 cookies (about ¾ of a package), 214 g
◯ Natural granulated sugar (you can use traditional white) - 3 TBSP, 44g
Cheesecake filling
◯ Cream cheese, at room temperature – 5 (8 oz) packages
◯ Raw sugar – 1¾ cup
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 2 TBSP
◯ Vanilla extract – 1 ½ to 2 Tsps
◯ Almond concentrate or extract - ¼ Tsp
◯ Pure (canned) coconut milk, preferably full fat – ¼ cup
◯ Unbleached all purpose flour – 3 TBSP
◯ Eggs, at room temperature – 5, large
◯ Egg yolks, at room temperature – 2, from large eggs
◯ Canned dulce de leche - ½ cup, 190g
◯ Water - 2 to 3 TBSP
Italian Meringue
◯ Water – ¼ cup
◯ Raw sugar – ½ cup
◯ Lemon - about ½ plus a slice to rub the bowl and attachment
◯ Egg whites, at room temperature – 2
◯ Cream of tartar – ¼ Tsp
Details
Yield:
a 9” Cheesecake
Total time:
2 hours plus 8 hour on the fridge (overnight)
Active time: 30 minutes for making the crust and cheesecake, 10 minutes for making the meringue
Baking time:
1 hour and 10 minutes
Equipment:
baking sheet, springform pan or pie dish, stand mixer or handheld electric mixer
Steps
To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 350°. Wrap the outside of a 9” springform pan with several long pieces of aluminum foil to prevent water from seeping through. Press it tight all the way to the top. Place pan in a baking sheet.
Melt the 8 tablespoons of butter.
Pulse the 27 cookies with the 3 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor, just until the crumbs are pinhead sized. With the processor running, pour the melted butter through the opening in the lid. Open the lid and fluffing with a fork make sure the butter is well distributed. Press several more times if necessary.
Transfer cookie crumbs to pan and press them until they are compact. You can use a small cup with a flat bottom to help you press them down. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes, until the crumbs look compact and golden. Remove from oven. Let it cool while you make the filling.
As soon as you remove the crust from the oven, increase the temperature to 425°.
To make the cream cheese filling:
Place the 5 cream cheeses in the bowl of a stand mixer with the wire (whisk) attachment attached (if you are using a hand mixer use the beaters). Beat on medium-low speed (#2 in the stand mixer) until cream cheese is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula to make sure there are no big lumps of unbeaten cream cheese. Beat an additional minute. Scrape one more time if necessary.
(Scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl several times throughout the process is key to making the mixture smooth and bubble-free.)
Slow down to minimum speed and gradually add the 1 ¾ cup of sugar. Mix 1 minute. Add the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the teaspoon of vanilla and the ¼ teaspoon of almond extract (if using) and mix until incorporated. Add the ¼ cup of coconut milk. Stop mixer and scrape the walls and bottom of the bowl once more to make sure there are no big chunks of cream cheese. Add the flour and wait for it to incorporate. Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time. Stop beating as soon as the last yolk is incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once more. Beat on minimum speed for an additional minute.
Place the pan with the crust on a baking tray. Pour in the cream cheese filling. Fill baking tray with water half way thru and carefully transfer everything to your oven already in 425° (you can do it vice versa if you prefer; transfer the tray to the oven and fill it halfway with water, but you need to act fast so the oven temperature doesn't drip much). Bake for 7 minutes. Lower the temperature to 275° and bake for 1 hour and 10 to 15 minutes, until the filling is firm but the center is wobbly when shaken.
Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake with the oven door ajar for 10 to 15 minutes, then take it out and let it cool completely. Cover the pan with plastic seal or aluminum foil (not touching the cheesecake). Chill in the fridge for 8 to 10 hours, preferably overnight.
To serve, mix the dulce de leche with 2 tablespoons of water until just incorporated. Add a third tablespoon for a thinner consistency if needed and mix. You can add more water if you prefer a thinner consistency. Spread over cheesecake. Place it in the fridge again while you make the Italian meringue. This will help the dulce de leche set a bit so it doesn't get mixed with the meringue.
To make the Italian meringue:
Make sure that the mixer bowl and the wire accessory are very clean and free of any grease residue. Any fat will prevent the egg whites from rising. Move the mixer as close to the stove area as possible.
In a small saucepan pour the ¼ cup of water. Add the sugar in the middle it to prevent granules sticking on the saucepan walls.
Rub the bottom, the sides of the bowl and the wires of the whisk with a lemon cut in half. Drop the ½ teaspoon of lemon juice. Add the 2 egg whites and ¼ teaspoon of the cream of tartar. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to distribute everything. Increase speed to medium (#4 in the stand mixer) and beat until soft peaks form.
Immediately start heating the sugar and water on high heat until a candy thermometer reaches 240°. Be stand by as soon as it goes beyond 225°.
As soon as it reaches 240°, remove from heat and in a thin but continuous stream add the syrup to the whites while the mixer is still running (try to prevent pouring sugar too near to the edge). Beat for 2 minutes then increase speed to medium-high (#6 in the stand mixer). Beat for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the bowl feels at room temperature on the outside.
Scrape it over the dulce de leche layer. Decorate creating soft peaks or waves with a silicone spatula or upside-down spoon. You have to work the meringue relatively quick, it will look a bit broken if smeared when too cool, even if it’s completely safe to eat. If you need to make it smooth again, transfer as much as you can to the mixing bowl and mix for 20 to 30 seconds in the lowest speed. Make sure it doesn’t have any traces of dulce de leche or it can collapse.
