Dulce de Leche Cheesecake bars

I went to a baby shower a couple weeks ago. I remember two main things about it- a Marc Jacobs bag given to the mama-to-be, and these cheesecake bars. Cheesecake with a layer of dulce de leche and chocolate on top. The maker of these goodies pointed me to Pintrest, where it looked like a few people have posted them- Brown Eyed Baker, Smitten Kitchen, and some others. I used BEB's recipe and made some changes.
First, I made the dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk in the microwave using this method (this is an amazing cake, BTW). Then I added more butter to the crust to make it more moist. I also used milk chocolate for the glaze as I don't like the bitterness of darker chocolate with the tang of cream cheese.

I made these for our little guy's baby blessing, along with these. Make them. Now. You don't even have to share them I won't tell.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Crust:1 cup graham cracker crumbs, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk (or 1 can dulce de leche)
2 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze:
3 ounces milk chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1. Make the Crust: Preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Spray with non-stick spray.

2. In a bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and butter. Press mixture evenly in bottom of pan. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden. Set on rack to cool while you make the filling.

3. Make the Filling. Spread the dulce de leche evenly over the graham crust. Chill in the refrigerator refrigerator while you prepare the cream cheese layer.

4. Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed unti light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dulce de leche layer evenly, and bake for 40-45 minutes until the center is set. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

6. Glaze the bars. Heat the chocolate, butter and light corn syrup in a double boiler until melted and smooth. Pour the glaze over the cheesecake, tilting the pan to ensure the top is coated evenly. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

7. Lift the cheesecake from the pan using the parchment handles and slice into squares using a sharp knife, wiping it clean after each cut.

TWD- Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

This week was chosen by Life in a Peanut Shell for Espresso Cheesecake Brownies. I thought these sounded really good- a moist brownie topped with an espresso cheesecake layer, topped with sweetened sour cream. Actually, now that I type that out, it sounds like a lot. And it was.
Don't get me wrong, I love brownies and I LOVE cheesecake. I would like a brownie cheesecake. But not so much cheesecake on top of a brownie. With sour cream. The whole thing was a little much for me. And I thought the tangy sour cream and the tangy cheesecake was too tangy for me.
Check out Melissa's blog for yummy pics and the recipe!
For some reason, my pics aren't uploading. I'll try again later!

Daring Bakers- Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. I was excited to try this as I'm always up for a good cheesecake recipe. The receipe is very simple and straightforward. There are suggestions on how to modify the cake- various additions of liquers and other flavors but I'm a big fan of plain cheesecake when it's homemade (the Cheesecake Factory is another story), so I kept mine pretty simple.
I cut the recipe to a 1/3- with all the baking I've been doing lately (and being pregnant), that last thing I needed was a giant cheesecake in my house. I made little cheesecakes in a muffin pan, and swirled raspberry preserves in the batter before baking.This cheesecake was really good. I didn't bake it in a waterbath since I didn't use a springform. But the cheesecake is really moist and rich. I would say it's not my most favorite recipe- the crust was a little dry and I like my cheesecake a little more dense. Definitely worth a try, though, as it's pretty low maintenance!

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:
crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. 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 pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. 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. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.