Decadent Alfajores cheesecake

בס"ד

This Festive and impressive Alfajores cheesecake has the flavors of the wonderful Argentinian Alfajores cookies.

This baked Alfajores cheesecake recipe is simple and just beautiful. I used low-fat cheese, in order to minimize the number of calories that come from the rest of the ingredients, and especially the dulce de leche spread.

The cake is rich with the primary flavors of the alfajor cookie, and every bite is a pleasure to your taste buds, just like a good cheesecake should be. 




Ingredients for 20 cm (around 8 inches) round springform pan or a ring:
Measurements using universal cups and spoons
Base:

150-gram (5.3 oz.)  petit beurre/shortbread

5 Tbsp. grated coconut
5Tbsp. dulce de leche

Filling:
750-gram (26.5 oz.) low-fat cream cheese
1 cup of sugar
3 L eggs
4 Tbsp. cornstarch

Cream:
2 cups of whipping cream
2 Tbsp. instant vanilla powder
2 Tbsp. dulce de leche


Dulce de leche to coat the cake, melted between 15-25 seconds if too hard
grated coconut
Alfajores cookies, cut in half

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 140C / 284F, turbo.
Make the base:
Crush the petit beurre / shortbread in a food processor. Add in the coconut and dulce de leche and mix until unified.
Take a 20 cm round springform cake tin and place a round baking paper at the bottom. Press the base mixture to the bottom and place it in the fridge.
If you use a 20 cm ring mold, as I used in the video, you need to coat the bottom of the pan with a round of baking paper and aluminum foil and place it in a stable pan.

Prepare the filling:
Mix the cheese with the sugar, cornstarch, and eggs and mix well. If you want the sides of the cake to loose easily after baking, you need to grease the sides of the pan with oil prior to baking and only then pour in the cheese mixture.
Bake on the middle rack for two hours, and once done, let it cool outside and then transfer the cake to the fridge for the night.

The next day prepare the cream:
If the dulce de leche is too hard, transfer it to a microwave-safe bowl and melt it between 15-25 seconds.
Whip the cream with the instant pudding to a stable cream. Take 2-3 heaping tablespoons of the cream and keep aside.
Add the dulce de leche to the larger bowl and whip until stable.
Transfer the dulce de leche cream to a piping bag without a nozzle. Transfer the white cream to a piping bag with a small star tip, and take a regular dulce de leche without any additions and transfer to a piping bag with a star nozzle.

Assemble the cake:
Take the cake out of the fridge run with a knife through the sides, to release it easily. If you greased the pan properly, you wouldn't need to do this step.
Since we cover the sides of the cake with dulce de leche, there is not much need to grease the pan, since no one would see it.
Spread the circumference of the cake with the dulce de leche using a spatula and then cover it with grated coconut.
If you want the cake to be less sweet, you can try and spread a thin coating of dulce de leche or skip this coating step and leave the sides of the cake white.

Take the dulce de leche cream piping bag and draw a spiral shape on top of the cake. Smooth it using an offset spatula.
You can, of course, spread the cream on top without the spiral drawing. I think it is easier to spread the coating safely the first way I mentioned.

Take the piping bags and start piping on top of the cake freely or as I piped in the tutorial video attached.
Place half homemade alfajores cookies or store-bought on top.
So no one would feel deprived, make sure to have enough cookies on the side to serve with each slice :-)
The cake keeps well in the fridge for two-three days in a cake cover box or any other closed box. Enjoy :-)

Did you make the recipe?
Don't forget to take a picture and share your produce with me. You can tag me on Instagram @con_delight or Facebook @condelight