crème brûlée cheesecake;

Crème brûlée cheesecake has the most decadent, dense sugar cookie base, layered on top with a silky cheesecake filling. Of course, for crème brûlée, you top the whole thing with a layer of toasted sugar to form a crisp sugary crust. And oh my gawsh it’s ah-mazing. This dessert is decadent and sweet, so prepare your taste buds!

Honestly in my opinion the best part of this crème brûlée cheesecake is the crust. In some ways, it’s a dense and chewy sugar cookie bar with a thick layer of frosting, cream cheese style. It’s so simple to make, just throw the ingredients together and mix, then press into the pan. It may seem a little crumby at first, but by the time you work all the ingredients together, you’ll have a buttery, thick dough roughly the consistency of sugar cookie dough.

Then comes the cheesecake layer. Again, pretty straightforward, mix everything together, but there are a few tricks here. The key to any cheesecake is creaminess. And creamy comes in the form of fat. Lookin’ at you cream cheese, sour cream, and egg yolks.

First things first —cream cheese. Make sure they’re room temperature and creamy. If you use cold cream cheese you’ll get lumps instead of a silky smooth batter. I like to sit mine overnight on the counter. Pro tip: while the bricks are cold, empty them into the bowl you plan to move and then let them come to room temperature there. This saves you scraping down messy sides to get every last bit once it’s room temperature.

Make sure your cream cheese is room temperature. If too cold, you’ll get little lumps instead of a silky smooth batter.

Secret to success

To get the creamiest cheesecake, use full-fat everything. To help reduce a few calories, I use 2 bricks of cream cheese, one low-fat and one regular. The same goes for sour cream. You can use low-fat or fat-free, or even substitute Greek yogurt. But keep in mind that alterations might affect the recipe. Low- or non-fat options will make the crème brûlée cheesecake more likely to crack. If it does, just add some extra sugar to that area and char it up–no one has to know!

Since crème brûlée cheesecake does take 3 egg yolks, you’ll have whites left over. I always save them but you can discard them if you don’t want to bother. But with how expensive eggs are these days, it seems like such a waste. So I throw them in an omelette or make mint chocolate chip meringues.

We take a few shortcuts on the cookie crust with a pre-made sugar cookie mix. But that means it’s quick and easy to make and press into the pan. Once you layer on that creamy cheesecake mixture, it’s time to bake. We don’t get to have fun with fire and blowtorches until after the cheesecake has baked and cooled.

You’ll need a blowtorch to fire up that crackly sugar top and put the crème brûlée in crème brûlée cheesecake.

Secret to success

You’ll need a blowtorch to fire up that crackly sugar top and put the crème brûlée in crème brûlée cheesecake. The blow torch and sugar make for a sugar crust that adds a little caramel flavor to the palate, while also adding an extra texture of crunch to the chewy crust and smooth cheesecake. It really is the perfect bite!

When it comes to sprinkling the sugar over top, you want the right amount–not too much and not too little. You’re looking to just cover the surface with an opaque white. You’re not looking to drown the poor cheesecake in white. You should still be able to see some of the yellow peeking through in places, but you’re looking for a just barely opaque layer of sugar. Too little sugar will result in charring the cheesecake itself, and not forming that satisfying sugar crunch layer.

You want the right amount of sugar on top—not too much, and not too little.

Secret to success

Make sure to follow instructions for your specific blowtorch, as they can be dangerous. If you don’t have a blowtorch or can’t be bothered to whip it out, Averie over at Averie Cooks recommends using toffee bits and letting the residual heat right out of the oven melt the toffee to form that crunchy layer. Voila, makeshift crème brûlée topping. But since I do have a blowtorch and also enjoy playing with fire, I went with Option 1.

Char the sugar layer to your heart’s content. To be perfectly honest, I overdid it a little bit here. I like my crème brûlée bordering on charred to get a nice thick layer of sugar crust. So as long as you zap your crème brûlée crust to your heart’s content, eat away my friend!

secrets to success;

Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!

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more recipes;

Looking for other scrumptious desserts? Check out these decadent options:

• Love cheesecake and can’t get enough? Try my white chocolate biscoff cheesecakes, or s’mores cheesecake, or raspberry lime cheesecake or peach bourbon crumble cheesecakes for traditional cheesecakes with fun flavor flair.
• Or try some new twists on a classic: these churro cheesecake bars are so, so easy to make and yum! Or check out strawberry cheesecake cookies.
• One of my favorite breakfast dishes of all time is this cream cheese apple cake. Serve it as a sweet dessert if you’d like, but I love it as a coffee cake with a cup of tea or coffee to help cut through the delicious sweetness.
• If you’re interested, consider serving with a few dollops of your homemade stabilized whipped cream. If you do want to serve with cream, make sure the crème brûlée cheesecake is fully cooled off prior to adding a few cream embellishments.