Cafe Con Leche Cheesecake
/Inspired by my favorite Latin drink, cafe con leche, this fluffy, layered cheesecake recipe is spiked with strong espresso and kahlua. A decadent, coffee cheesecake topped with a tart sour cream whipped cream.
I didn’t know what home tasted like until I went away to college. There are so many flavors and smells that we associate with different people and places in our life. The smell of Boursin cheese makes me think of my Aunt’s house in North Carolina and her many many area rugs (which are beautiful and I would love for my house now). The smell of bread and sausage reminds me of my grandmother cooking in her kitchen in Pensacola, making big batches of briolata. But home, with all of it’s flavors and smells, alluded me until fall of my freshman year of college.
I grew up in South Florida and moved a few hours north to Orlando to attend UCF many (but not too many) years ago. The first few months, my roommate and I were pretty homesick and utterly baffled at the lack of Latin pastries available to us. In South Florida, there are Latin bakeries on every corner. There is a Colombian bakery, a Venezuelan Bakery, at least two Cuban bakeries, and one catch-all Hispanic food spot within a five minute drive of my parent’s house. You can even. get empanadas and croquettes at your local Publix, so imagine our surprise when we discovered that not even Publix in this new, empanada-free land of Orlando was able to come to our rescue.
That winter, when I came home for Christmas break, empanadas and cafe con leches were number one on my list. The first morning home, my sister and I got up early and drove (across the street) to Panna, our favorite local gas station/car wash/Latin-pastry heaven. We loaded up with brown paper bags full of basically everything on the shelf and 4 giant cafe con leches balanced precariously in a flimsy beverage carrier. It was Christmas, I was home, and everything was right with the world. Even now, Panna is the first stop when we exit I-75 for my little taste of home.
About the recipe:
Cafe con Leche is coffee from the gods. It is strong espresso with lots of milk and usually a little sweetened condensed milk. This cheesecake is a super-fun two-tone guy, with an espresso paste stirred into a third of the batter and spooned on top. The cheesecake base itself uses whipped egg whites to make it extra light and creamy and the whole thing is topped with a sweetened whipped cream/sour cream mixture. The crust is made from Maria cookies, a very Hispanic treat similar to a graham cracker. If you can’t find Maria cookies, you can definitely sub in graham crackers or gingersnaps or any other cookie you love. It’s a beautiful cheesecake and has cemented itself as a favorite in our family.
Cafe Con Leche Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 7 oz Maria Cookies *
- 1 tsp instant espresso
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 lb cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1/4 cup (57 g) heavy cream
- 2 tbsp instant espresso
- 2 tbsp Kahlua
- 3/4 cup (170 g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup (57 g) heavy cream
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F and line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cookies until finely ground. Add the espresso, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Pulse a few more times, just to combine. Transfer the cookie mixture to a medium bowl and add the melted butter. Stir everything together until the mixture is moistened and no dry spots remain. Press the cookie crumbs into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped whites to another bowl and set aside.
- Dissolve the instant espresso in heavy cream and set aside.
- Return the mixing bowl to the stand mixer and switch to the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch until there are no clumps. Add the sugar and cornstarch to the mixer with the cream cheese and mix for 1-2 minutes until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and continue to mix until the batter is smooth and homogenous.
- Remove In two additions, fold whipped egg whites into cheesecake batter until no streaks remain.
- Pour two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan. Add the espresso/heavy cream mixture to the remaining third of the batter, along with the Kahlua. Mix well to combine, and then pour in a layer on top of the cheesecake.
- Place cheesecake in a water bath and bake for one hour. After an hour, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in with the oven door closed for another hour. After two hours, remove the cheesecake from the oven, wrap in plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk, whip sour cream and heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue whipping until thick. Spoon whipped cream over the top of your chilled cheesecake and serve immediately.
