Cheesecake Challenge #8: Cafe de Leche Cheesecake

Yesterday's experiment was Cafe de Leche cheesecake from The Spiced Life, which looks so pretty in the picture I didn't bother taking one of my own (it wasn't holding it's shape well when cut and it was disappearing into the belly quickly, so I figured this picture would do):

From The Spiced Life

Jackpot!

Here's the story: we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Olive Garden does happen to have a very good Tiramisu. And often my mom gets it. But this time, she didn't, because we had this cheesecake at home waiting for us. And the best part? It's almost kind of like a creamy, cheesecaky version of Tiramisu. Slightly different, but similar flavors. Super creamy. Espresso. Caramel. Chocolate.

I love this cheesecake. It's DELISH.

Cafe de Leche Cheesecake
from The Spiced Life

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups Chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. Cocoa Powder
8 Tbsp. Melted, unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Coffee Cheesecake:
16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 tsp. Instant Espresso

Caramel and Ganache Layer:
1 can Dulce de Leche (made with milk)
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
6-8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients and press into a 9" spring-form pan. Cover pan in 4 layers of foil.
2. Combine cream cheese and mascarpone, beating until blended. Add sugar, then eggs, one at a time.
3. Microwave 1/4 cup of cream in small bowl until hot and whisk in espresso powder. Let cool to tepid.
4. Add espresso mixture, cream, vanilla, and lemon juice to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Pour batter into crust and place in water bath. Bake 45-55 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting for 1 hour when done. Allow to finish cooling on counter, then chill overnight.
6. Heat up the dulce de leche so it is pourable, and let cool to tepid. Pour over the cake and chill an hour.
7. Make the ganache by simmering the heavy cream and then adding the chocolate. Let cool to tepid and pour over the dulce de leche layer. Return to chill for 3 hours or until chocolate is set.