Sweet and creamy with touch of sea salt, this decadent dulce de leche cheesecake is quite a treat! All the steps are laid out for you in easy-to-follow visuals so you can achieve this decadent dessert right in your own kitchen.
It’s no secret I love cheesecakes. The taller, the creamier, the better! And preferably with lots of crust.
This time I made one with my all time favorite sweet treat: dulce de leche. I don’t know what took me so long to make this sweet deliciousness, but it did happen. Not once, but twice in one month!
Don’t let the fancy name fool you. Dulce de leche is nothing but cooked sweetened condensed milk. It’s my addiction! So simple, yet so complex. It’s one item I always have in my pantry. Here’s what I do. I buy like 10 cans of sweetened condensed milk at a time (cashiers probably think I have a problem and they’re probably not far off!), stock 5 of them in the pantry, and then boil the other 5 in a large pot of water for a few hours. Boiled cans of sweetened condensed milk are then cooled and stored in the pantry. Easy peasy, right? I also shared other methods of making homemade dulce de leche, check it out for more details.
Now, let’s dive into the cheesecake. Shall we?
This cheesecake is massive! With tall, buttery, crumbly crust and smooth creamy cheesecake filling topped with more dulce de leche. To offset all the sweetness, sprinkle a little bit of sea salt! Decadent, truly decadent!
This impressive cheesecake isn’t that difficult to make. All the steps are laid out right here for you.
Couple of things to keep in mind:
- Start with softened cream cheese for the smoothest filling. Simply bring cream cheese out on the counter about an hour before you start. Bring out the eggs while you’re at it.
- When you start adding the eggs, don’t beat the batter on high speed, because you’ll incorporate too much air into the batter, which is #1 reason for cracked cheesecake.
- Another trick to prevent cracks is to run a knife between the crust and pan soon after the cheesecake is out. But don’t sweat too much about it, because crack or no crack, doesn’t matter. You’ll smear dulce de leche all over the cheesecake. (Just between you and I, this cheesecake you’re looking at actually has a pretty big crack. But who the heck cares!)
- Before serving, I highly recommend sprinkling some sea salt on top, as it balances some of the sweetness of the cheesecake. I love this Maldon sea salt flakes, it’s the best stuff!
Now, invite a few good friends for a coffee, or tea and bake this delicious cheesecake to indulge!
I really, really want you try this creamy sweet deliciousness. You have to have a major sweet tooth though! But I promise you’ll love each and every bite. So many flavors and textures going on here: creamy smooth filling, buttery crumbly crust, salty n’ sweet dulce de leche topping. Ah, I can’t even…
Hope I got you craving some cheesecake. Quick question for you: What’s your favorite cheesecake flavor? Let me know in the comments below.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Decadent Dulce de Leche Cheesecake
Ingredients
For curst:
- 18 full sheets of graham crackers about 300gr cookies
- ¼ cup 50gr sugar
- 10 tablespoons 140gr unsalted butter, melted
For cheesecake filling:
- 24 oz 700gr cream cheese, softened (Brick-style, full fat version)
- 1/3 cup 65gr sugar
- 1 can 400gr/14oz dulce de leche, divided
- ½ cup 125gr sour cream
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- Sea salt flakes for dusting optional (I love this Maldon sea salt flakes.)
Instructions
- To make the crust, crush the graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
- Add sugar and melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Transfer the crumbs into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate while working on filling.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- To make the cheesecake filling, in a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until fluffy on medium speed. Stir in the sugar. Then add about ¾ of dulce de leche (the remaining ¼ of the can will be used for spreading on top for decoration) and sour cream. Continue to mix until combined.
- Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Beat in the eggs one at a time and mix just until combined on low speed. Transfer the batter into the prepared crust.
- Bake the cheesecake for 45-50 minutes, or until the edges are set and slightly wobbly in the center. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then carefully run a knife around edge of the pan to loosen; cool for 2 hours. Then refrigerate to set completely for at least another 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, remove springform sides of the pan and spread the reserved dulce de leche on top. Sprinkle some sea salt, if desired. Store the cheesecake in a fridge, covered, for up to 5 days.
Tips & Notes:
Heather says
I have had this recipe pinned to my dessert board for several years. I recently decided to enter it into our annual autumn neighborhood cookoff, and out of over a dozen desserts, this placed third, but among my family, we decided it most definitely should have placed first. My notoriously picky 8 year old begged me to take some home for him, and I was the subject of compliments all night.
I appreciate the fact that you went to the trouble of weighing all ingredients. It makes such a difference when baking and since I count macros, it was effortless to calculate nutritional information. I tweaked the filling ever so slightly and added in some leftover apple pie filling, and next time I may add roasted candied nuts to the crust. My only regret is that I didn’t bake this sooner!
Barb says
Instead of a water bath I still wrap my pan with foil but then I place a large roasting and broiler pan with boiling hot water on the oven rack directly under the cheesecake. This helps to provide the steam to help keep your cheesecake from over baking and cracking. I also line my springform pan with parchment paper and run a thin knife around the edges of the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. I’ve never had a crack using this method. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Shinee says
Thanks for sharing your tip, Barb! I sometimes do bake my cheesecakes in a water bath like you’ve described, like this pecan pie cheesecake. Let me know if you give this a try!
Tiffany Andersen says
I couldn’t find dulce de leche, I used caramel sauce. Someone still thought it was dulce de leche! Although it took longer to cook and at the end, I just left it in the turned off oven for a bit, it was AWESOME. It did NOT crack, first time ever and I wonder if the thickness of the caramel helped stabilize the cheesecake more? Whatever the case, the texture is smooth and creamy and it’s a great cheesecake.
Shinee says
So happy you tried and loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing your feedback and tweaks!!
Adriana says
Tiffany, you can make dulce de leche very easy, just put one can of condensed milk (do not open the can) in a pot crock, cover the can with water and cook it in low temperature for 8 hours. Hope this can help you. Adriana
Chris says
Made this recipe three times now, it has been great every time. I use 2 cans of dulce de leche so the topping is a little thicker, this time I added some chopped pecans to the crust and topping as well as putting a thin layer of dulce de leche on the bottom. Can’t wait for my dinner party to serve it up tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
Shinee says
Yay, so happy you love this recipe so much! I love your variation as well. Hope your guests enjoyed it. And thank you for your feedback, Chris!
Sarah says
I think the cheesecake would been better by blind baking the crust first and having it in a water bath. I followed the recipe, and there was a lot of puffing up (which fell) and cracking.
Shinee says
Hi, Sarah. Thanks for making my recipe and for your feedback!
Paige says
This was fabulous! Everyone loved it! I made my own “caramel sauce” by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk and it worked perfectly.
Shinee says
Thank you, Paige, for making my recipe and sharing your feedback!!! So happy everyone loved it!
alex says
Excellent recipe. Made it following the instructions exactly (minus the sea salt dust) and it came out wonderful. My husband requested dulce de leche cheesecake and I had searched for a while because of different versions for a dulce de leche cheesecake, and I’m glad I chose this one. He said its the best cheesecake he’s ever had and liked it much more than Cheesecake factory cheesecakes (which I have to agree, it feels more authentic and is just the right amount of sweet). I had to made dulce from condensed milk as we dont have it at our local store but it worked out just fine (made it ahead of time and cooled it before using). I personally never use a waterbath (too much of a hastle) and its been just fine.
I did notice that 1/4 cans worth of dulce de leche leaves only a thin layer for the topping but honestly the amount was perfect to not make it overly sweet.
Shinee says
Aww, what a compliment!! I love that. Thank you for trying my recipe, Alex, and for your feedback!!
Leslie T. says
This was such a beautiful cheesecake. I am like you and just absolutely love dulce de leche. I was searching for recipes specifically using a homemade can of the yummy stuff and found your page. I am so glad I did. My first attempt to ever make a cheesecake was this recipe. It was absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly. My crust was perfect. The filling was exactly the consistency you hope for in a cheesecake. Flavors were not overwhelmingly sweet; just right. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Shinee says
Yay, so happy you loved it, Leslie!!! Thank you so much for your feedback!
Ruth says
Wow the crust was super mushy and disgusting. My gut told me to bake it off for 10 minutes, but I decided to follow your recipe. Big mistake.
Shinee says
Bummer your crust didn’t turn out right. I don’t know what went wrong. I know this recipe works perfectly for so many people. When in doubt, always listen to your gut, Ruth!!!
Ariel says
Didn’t follow the recipe to the T
Didn’t use sour cream. Used heavy cream. Didn’t use sea salt, used pecans
Used 2 eggs and 2 egg whites.
Very creamy texture
For the crust I used cinnamon and honey graham crackers for more flavors. Cool recipe
Shinee says
Hi, Ariel. Glad your cheesecake turned out good. Thank you for sharing your tweaks.
Amisadai Santos says
This recipe is so awesome!! It’s super tasty and sweet. I’ve done it twice and as days pass it gets better. You should really try it.
Shinee says
Yay, so happy you love this cheesecake recipe. Thank you so much for your feedback, Amisadai!
Mari says
I have made this multiple times..the last 2 times my cheesecake has cracked…why is this happening?
Car says
I have made many cheesecakes in the past and this has happened to me also. I’ve learned that wrapping the springform pan in aluminum foil will prevent leaks and placing the cheesecake in a water bath while baking will prevent cracking your cake. Good luck!
Emma says
I have made this recipe with no changes like 5 times now, it’s super easy and tastes wonderful! My family and I thank you for sharing such a great recipe
Shinee says
Yay, I’m so happy you and your family love this cheesecake, Emma! Thank you so much for your feedback!
Jane Doe says
Hello. I have extra pie crust and thought to make this recipe with the pie crust instead for a cheesecake pie! What do you think? Could I use plain greek yoghurt to replace the sour cream? Dont have any sour cream! Thanks
Shinee says
I’ve never made cheesecake with pie dough, but why not? And yes, you can use greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
Alicia says
This sounds delicious and I want to try it for thanksgiving. Do you bake this in a pan with water or put it in the oven by itself.
Shinee says
Hi, Alicia. Although I bake some of my cheesecakes in a waterbath, I didn’t with this one. If you follow my tips above the recipe, it’ll help you with no crack cheesecake. Hope you’ll enjoy. Please let me know if you try it.
Justine says
One of my favourite cheesecakes I have ever made! Also love how easy it was to make!
Shinee says
So happy you love the cheesecake. I got your e-mail with the photo and it looks incredible. Thank you for sharing, Justine!!!
Marie Paes says
Absolutely delicious! It came out perfect from the oven. Irresistible!!