dulche de leche mini cheesecake;

Cheesecake, cheesecake, everybody try some yums! You probably don’t get the singsong voice via reading text, but it’s going through my head right now. These cheesecakes have been a long-time coming actually. I was debating about what size springform pans I should invest in for several days, and then once I got the pans, I haven’t been able to find an ingredient or two at the grocery…and I just really want cheesecake! Cheesecake has been at the tip of my tongue for like a week now.

So look out for the not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR parts of a series on mini cheesecakes! These mini cheesecakes are not those cupcake-sized or bite-sized cheesecakes, but really an ~4″ cheesecake, perfect for 2-3 people. My goal with these was to find a yummy base cheesecake recipe, and then create some different flavors! So look out for the upcoming: cookies and creme mini cheesecake, strawberry swirl mini cheesecake, and peppermint cheesecake!

This particular dulche de leche idea came about because Tyler ran the Baltimore Marathon last weekend! And I told him that after running 26.2 miles (and killin’ it I might add!) that he could have anything he wanted to eat. So dulche de leche cheesecake it is! In case you don’t know, people often call dulche de leche “caramel”. While it is caramelized, it’s actually sweetened condensed milk that’s been heated and begins to caramelize. While similar, the ingredients are different. Caramel is water, whipping cream, sugar, and butter; while dulche de leche is condensed milk.  Things I learn from making cheesecake!

I used trader joe’s dulche de leche spread, since I checked harris teeter and sadly was unable to find any after much perusing and asking the staff for help. You can also make dulche de leche simply by boiling condensed milk, but it takes several hours. And while all the online recipes and all the bloggers and normal people who make their own clearly turn out fine, I don’t particularly feel the need to entertain the minute possibility of a can exploding in my home…and dulche de leche shrapnel about my apartment. (I have a slightly overactive imagination–I do NOT actually think this would happen.  I’m really just lazy and attempting to justify myself.)

As it was, the dulche de leche cheesecake was the only one that didn’t crack.  I think the extra richness of the dulche de leche helped with that, but I have some tips and tricks for the others if your cheesecakes do crack!  If this one happens to crack for you, just top it with a layer of caramel sauce or dulche de leche spread.  Voila!  Fixed, looking lovely, and tasty to boot!  Lucky for me this one was beautiful and rich, and definitely had a solid dulche de leche flavor which I appreciate.  I topped it with a small caramel drizzle, and it was amazing!  It was a little denser than the other cheesecakes, but the basic recipe is nicely light, but with a good heft to it.

Look out for the other three in this mini cheesecake series: Cookies and Creme Mini Cheesecake, Strawberry Swirl Mini Cheesecake, and Peppermint Mini Cheesecake!

Related posts:

cookies and creme mini cheesecake; mini cinnamon cheesecakes; strawberry swirl mini cheesecake; peppermint mini cheesecake; pumpkin cheesecake bars;