Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Salted Dulce De Leche Cheesecake Bars


I started subscribing to Bon Apetit again after an absence of many years. In my first issue I came across a recipe that sounded awfully good to me. Cheesecake bars, flavored with Dulce de Leche and sprinkled with Sea Salt. Man, what's NOT to like about that combination.  So here's the recipe adapted from Bon Apetit, June, 2010.

Crust
2 1/4 cups graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 tablespoons melted butter

Filling
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup Dulce De Leche (available at your grocery store)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze
2/3 cup Dulce De Leche
3 tablespoons heavy cream
sea salt or fleur de sel

Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Press into lightly greased (spray Pam is fine) 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and sugar until fully blended. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add Dulce De Leche and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. Pour and scrape over crust and spread evenly all the way to the edges of the pan. Bake at 350 for 38 to 42 minutes until filling is puffed, browning, and starting to crack. Remove and let cool.

Heat glaze, combine and spread over baked cream cheese and sprinkle with sea salt and refrigerate for an hour.

Now a couple of specifics. Salting the dessert, you want to be careful as it's a fine line to perhaps salt it too much and it's easy not to salt enough. Here's what you do, salt it once, somewhat liberally, and then refrigerate. When you go to cut the squares, test one, and if the saltiness is not enough, salt again. That should be sufficient, and perfect.

Also, a cold cheesecake dish like this with a creamy middle and sticky dulce de leche topping can be difficult to cut cleanly. Here's a method I found that works. One, use a heavy knife or even a dough cutter and run it under hot water, dry with a paper towel, and make one cut through the dessert. Then, run again under hot water, clean off cheesecake crumbs, dry, and make another cut. Continue this way until you've made four to six cuts in the cheesecake. Then, remove a "large square" from the pan and place on cutting board. Again, run hot water over the knife, wipe clean, and now you can cut down directly onto the cheesecake until you have evenly shaped squares that are the size you want. Repeat with the remaining "large" squares in the pan. This way you're not trying to cut even squares inside the pan. Also, this will prevent most of the scattering of crumbs from the cutting process.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Heavenly

Memória said...

Your blog has been updated and looks great! Lovely shot of the cheesecake. I love Bon Apètit!

Anonymous said...

I tried this and it felt like a party in my mouth! I can't wait to make it for my family. thank you!!

Sweet Treats by Dani said...

looks delicious!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those cheesecake bars look incredibly scrumptious!

Cheers,

Rosa

Aimee said...

This looks amazing! I am adding it to my "to bake" list!

Sherry G said...

Mmmm! I just love dulce de leche. These bars look soooo good!

Kate said...

Mmmm! Yum! My co-worker would love these! They look so scrumptious!

Can I introduce you to a non-food related blog? I recently found it since I've been searching blogs like crazy. Hope to write one myself someday.

wishfulthinkerphd.blogspot.com

Kate said...

Mmmm! Yum! My co-worker would love these! They look so scrumptious!

Check out a non-food blog I found while searching the internet for...blogs! :)

wishfulthinkerphd.blogspot.com

Chef John said...

Can I send you an address to ship this to?

Krista Nicholas said...

I just made these this evening. SO TASTY. Thanks for sharing!

Monet said...

Wow...this looks heavenly. I just found your blog today, and I am in love. Thanks for sharing!

stephendonald said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
fromBAtoParis said...

What kind of Argentinian am I, that I never tried dulce de leche with salt?
Next thing on my list...!!!!
BTW, I loved your words in your "about" about your kids and how often they are there, around you, to see...That's a great merit !!!
The photos in your blog make me absolutely hungry..Pity I'm on a diet !!!

Ron Merlin said...

Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate it.

landrylee said...

Do you think you could make this as a pie in a springform pan?

It looks fantastic!

Carissa C. said...

This recipe has quickly become a family favorite! super yummy!

poorleno111 said...

What exactly is three packages of cream cheese ? How many ounces per package, 8, 12, 16 ? Thanks!

Ron Merlin said...

The recipe is for 3 8 ounce packages of Cream Cheese

Anonymous said...

Can you be specific about the heavy cream? I'm an amateur baker trying to learn from scratch and i was wondering if you could elaborate on this. Anyway love the page and recipe was really helpful so far, Thanks!

Anonymous said...

PINCH ME, I AM DREAMING! Love your blog.