The Spiced Life Café de Leche Cheesecake

Adapted from Daring Baker challenge (see linked blog above for the challenge)

Course Dessert

Keyword cheesecake, coffee, dulce de leche

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups (180 g) chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 t unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Scharffenberger natural)
1/2 cup (1 stick; 4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Coffee cheesecake layer:

1 lb (2 8 oz packages) cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup (210 g) sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup (8 oz) heavy cream, of which 1/4 cup is set aside in microwave-proof bowl (more later)
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 T vanilla extract
2 1/2 t instant espresso

For layering:

1 lb dulce de leche
1 cup (8 oz) heavy cream
8 oz chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

Day 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
Mix together the crust ingredients and press into a 9 inch springform pan (some people reported leaking--I have never had this problem; all I can say is make sure you are using a good quality pan). Press the crust evenly into the bottom and a little up the sides of the pan. Wrap the springform pan in 4 layers of foil--preferably the extra wide foil but I got away with the more standard width. Set crust aside.
Combine the cream cheese and mascarpone in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until completely blended. Add the sugar and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. I beat too hard at this stage to no detriment, but I have been told not to go above speed 2 for cheesecakes with the eggs. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg.
Microwave the 1/4 cup of cream in a small bowl until hot and whisk in the espresso powder. Set aside to cool to tepid.
Add the coffee flavored cream, heavy cream, vanilla and lemon juice to the mixer bowl and blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger roasting pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. It may still have the slightest jiggle to it, which is ok. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill overnight.

Day 2

For the Dulce De Leche layer: I am not ashamed to admit mine came out of bottle (pictured below) since this stuff is heavenly and the real deal (if you buy yours, make sure it is made with real milk), but if you want make the dulce de leche the second day (I do not have a tried and true recipe to suggest, alas). If you are purchasing the caramel, heat it up gently in the microwave to make sure it is pourable. Let cool to tepid.
For the Ganache: Bring the cream just to a boil before pouring over the chopped chocolate. Whisk smooth and I cool to tepid before pouring.
The second day, pull the cheesecake out of the fridge. First pour the dulce de leche over the cheesecake, tilting the pan to coat the surface evenly. Return to the fridge for 1 hour.
Before pulling the cheesecake out, make the ganache. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and pour the ganache over the caramel, once again tilting the pan to coat the top evenly. Return the pan to the fridge and let sit for 3 hours or until the chocolate is set. I did all of this the morning of the second day and served the cheesecake with dinner.