Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Total Time
Approximately 9 hours and 30 minutes (including chilling)
Cook Time
About 45 minutes
Rating
4.5 out of 5 stars
(150)
Ingredients
64 cheesecake squares
- 3 1/2 ounces (100 grams or 1 cup) graham crackers, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce or 7-gram envelope, will be just about half an envelope)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
- 8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dulce de leche (12 1/2-ounce or 355-gram can)
- 3 ounces (85 grams) fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
- 1/2 stick (2 ounces or 55 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
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Preparation
Step 1
Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.
Step 2
Finely grind crackers with sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. With motor running, add butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.
Step 3
Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.
Step 4
Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Heat all glaze ingredients in a double boiler or a small metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, then pour over cheesecake, tilting baking pan to coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.
Step 5
Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut. (Don’t skip this step! A clean knife is essential for uber-neat squares.)
Step 6
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Chef's notes
If you’re looking for a strong dulce de leche flavor in a baked good, this unfortunately isn’t it. Oh, it’s there, but it’s not front and center. It has to share the spotlight with cream cheese, and, well, I’m not sure that it wants to. But, it lingers subtly in the background and, honestly, if there was ever a way to make cheesecake more heavenly, this would have to be it.
I’m sure you’ll notice that there is some gelatin in this recipe, and think it’s odd. Heck, even Alex did, which really just made me beam with pride that he knows so much about baking right now that he knows that gelatin is atypical in (baked) cheesecakes. But, if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. The reason why most cheesecake recipes don’t fare well as squares is that they’re too soft to easily pick up; the gelatin fixes addresses this perfectly.
