White Chocolate - Mocha Cheesecake, Topped with Dulce de Leche and Vanilla Chantilly Cream

This is another variation of the April's DB Challenge. This is a White Chocolate - Mocha cheesecake, topped with Vanilla Chantilly Cream and Dulce de Leche drizzle. Since I already posted the original recipe, I'll do a shorter version for this post. But, do not worry, I won't forget any of the directions!


Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg

Filling
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 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Rum
3 Tbsp. flour
1 Cup white chocolate morsels
1/4 cup heavy cream (for the mocha flavor)
2 Tbsp. Instant Expresso
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. sugar

Topping:
1/2 cup Dulce de Leche
1/8 cup hot milk
Vanilla Chantilly Cream (you can make it with regular whipped cream plus sugar and vanilla to taste)



Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 10-inch springform pan.

2. For the crust: In a mixing bowl with a paddle, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Mix until the mixture is crumbly, then add the egg and continue to mix until a soft dough forms.

3. Press the dough on the bottom and an inch up the sides of the prepared pan; dock with a fork, and bake for 15 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

4. 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, rum and flour and blend until smooth and creamy. Set 1/3 of the batter aside in a small mixing bowl and reserve for the mocha mixture. In the meantime, melt the white chocolate morsels and pour into the main batter.

5. In a measuring cup, heat the heavy whip (1/4 cup) in the microwave. It has to be very warm in order to melt the expresso but not boiling. Add the expresso, vanilla and sugar. Add this liquid mixture to the reserved 1/3 of cheesecake batter. Mix well.


To Assemble the cheesecake over the crust:

6. (I personally used a sieve on top of the crust to prevent any lumps of the main batter). Pour half of the main batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Pour the mocha mixture on top of it. Add the rest of the white chocolate mixture. Tap the pan a couple times again and let it rest for 15 minutes before baking. 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.

7. 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. If you have an instant reading thermometer the temperature should be 175º. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. (I left a kitchen towel to prevent a complete closing of the oven door). 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.

Toppings:

I let the cheesecake rest and cool overnight. The next morning, I microwaved the Dulce de Leche with the milk until the mixture looks runny and ready to drizzle (1 minute over half power is enough). Drizzle on top of the cheesecake.



If you are making the Vanilla Chantilly Cream, use chilled heavy whip (1 cup) in a medium mixing bowl. Beat until you get soft picks. Add sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Once done, put in a bag with a star attachment and pipe as you desire.