DULCE DE LECHE CHEESECAKE

This is the other cheesecake I made for the fund-raising event. It is a Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Dulce de Leche is a thick, rich caramel made by reducing and caramelizing sweetened condensed milk. Thus, this cheesecake is caramel flavored.

You will see here that the method for making this cheesecake is exactly the same as for the pumpkin cheesecake except for the flavoring of caramel which is added as opposed to pumpkin and spice. Also, you will notice that flour is used in this recipe rather than corn starch.

The method of whipping the cheese, creaming the cheese with sugar and then mixing in the eggs is the same for this batter. In fact, it's good to recognize that all cheesecake batters follow the same basic method as this. What comes after in terms of adding flavorings to the basic batter is where there's a fork in the road, but before that, cheesecakes batters are pretty much the same.

In baking you will see similarities when preparing batters, doughs and pastes. The more experience you gain, the easier these similarities are to see. because you will recognize patterns . For instance, mixing all wet ingredients together...combining all dry ingredients...and then adding dry to wet is pretty much the way things go for all baking. This is true for cookie doughs and pastes, cake batters and bread doughs. Creaming butter with sugar or eggs is another similarity as well. Make 10 batches of different cookies and you will see the pattern is the same for all cookies. The same applies for cheesecakes.

So...lets move on to see how this cheesecake is prepared, baked and decorated for the fund-raiser!

The cream cheese is whipped in a mixer with the paddle attachment to soften it up. If you have not got a mixer, use an elextric hand mixer or a wooden spoon. Another thing you may want to do if you are doing this by hand is warm the cheese to room temperature by leaving it on the counter for a few hours prior to mixing. Trust me, you'll be glad you did!

The flour, sugar and vanilla extract are added and incorporated thoroughly with the mixer.

The eggs are added and blended in thoroughly.

Now the batter is divided equally into two separate bowl. One half will be flavored with the caramel and the other will not.

The caramel is added to one half of the batter and is stirred in completely with a whisk.

Here you see the two batters. One is flavored and the other isn't. Not too hard, huh?

The unflavored batter is poured over the prebaked and cooled crumb crust.

I add a few dollups of caramel over top.

I pour the flavored batter over top carefully.

I give it a swirl with the tip of a knife to make it look...well...fancy?

This is a close up of the surface of the cake after is has been baked. Wait a minute, it could be a close up of the surface of the moon. Isn't the moon made of cheese?

I created a border of leaf-shaped cookies and then warmed some caramel and poured it into the center. The caramel firmed up as it cooled so it stayed right where I wanted it - in the center of the cake. I thought the cookies were a perfect shape for a cake that was made in Autumn. I found them at the grocery store.

This is the first time I made this cake and I didn't get to taste it. I hear it was very good however, so take is on good authority that you will like it if you make it. Please notice that I did things a little differently when it came time to pour my batters into the cake pan. This is not my recipe and I decided to play around with it a bit. The recipe is 100% acurate so follow it up until the time you pour batters. Follw the pictures at that point if you want to duplicate my version.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Filling:

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese (24 oz. total)
1 cup superfine granulated sugar
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup Dulce de leche (sold in most grocery stores)

Method:

1. Preheat oven temperature to 325°F.

2. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together until well mixed and smooth. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Add milk and mix until well blended.

3. Divide the cheesecake batter in half and pour into two bowls. Add Dulce de Leche sauce to one half of the batter and stir until well combined.

4. Pour plain batter over crust. Top with Dulce de leche batter by placing rounded spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and gently swirl into plain batter with the tip of knife or spatula.

5. Bake in preheated 325°F (160°C) oven for 45-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven and gently run metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cheesecake (this helps prevent cracking). Let cool 20-25 minutes before covering and placing in the refrigerator. Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight before serving. If desired, serve each slice drizzled with a little bit of dulce de leche sauce, or pass around a bowl of dulce de leche sauce for guest's to help themselves.

Makes 16 servings. (Yeah right! In a perfect world!!!)