Cheesecake with Speculoo Crust
I’ve written before about my obsession with the little Belgian cookie, the Speculoo. It’s kind of like a gingerbread cookie – with a similar rich brown color and snap — but with less ginger and more spice, and with enough cinnamon to remind me of another cookie with a silly name, the snickerdoodle.
After my cheesecake disaster last week – I used a mixture of ricotta and the French cream cheese imposter, St. Moret — and burned the sad, dense little thing, I was ready to give up.
But I was recently at Henry’s, our neighborhood faux-American diner, for a coffee, and X ordered up the cheesecake, which, it turns out, was really good. It was light. Elegant. Fluffy, even. The owner told me that she made it herself – with St. Moret and Speculoos — so I figured I’d give it another try.
This time, I wasn’t going to mess around with sketchy recipes in food magazines. I went to the expert, Dorie Greenspan, to find out how to make the perfect cheesecake.
There it was – “Tall and Creamy Cheesecake,” in her book on all things baking, “Baking: From My Home to Yours.”
In her recipe, Dorie calls for a graham cracker crust, but here’s where I substituted the little Speculoo. Worked perfectly. I managed to find Philly at the English Shop down the street, but at nearly 4 euros for a box (I needed 8), I used half Philly and half St. Moret, which were about half the price.
The cheesecake took some time to put together, and even more time — and lots of babysitting — to cook, but it was worth it. My Dorie-Speculoo cheesecake was light, lovely, and oh-so-satisfying, I must say, after the cooking faeries had gone on strike.
Cheesecake with Speculoo Crust
Serves 16
1 ¼ cups graham cracker or Speculoos cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
2 pounds (4-8 oz. boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ⅓ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ⅓ cups sour cream, heavy cream, or a mixture of the two
1. Make the crust. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, and wrap the bottom with a double layer of foil (heavy-duty works best). In a small bowl, mix the crumbs, sugar and salt, and pour in the melted butter. Stir until all of the ingredients are moist. Now pour the mixture in the springform pan and with your fingers, smoosh it all around and up the sides about halfway, if you can. Slip the crust into the freezer. Preheat oven to 350. When the oven’s ready, cook the crust for 15 minutes, and then put on a rack to cool. Reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.
2. Now that the crust is ready, make the cheesecake. For a light, fluffy cheesecake, make sure that your eggs and cream cheese are room temperature, and be sure to beat well (and beat and beat — I use a timer to make sure I give it enough air).
In a large mixer, beat the cream cheese until it’s fluffy, about 4 minutes.
With the mixer running on medium speed, add the sugar and salt and beat for 4 more minutes.
Add vanilla.
Add eggs one at a time, beating for a full minute after each egg. (Cowgirl tip: I crack my eggs into a small bowl before I do this, too, to make sure they don’t get any shells in them.)
Reduce speed to low and add sour cream/heavy cream mixture.
Put a kettle of water onto boil.
Pour cheesecake mixture into springform pan, and place in a larger, roasting pan. Add hot water halfway up the sides.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the oven door, and let the cheesecake rest for another hour. After an hour, pull the cheesecake out of the oven and place onto a rack to cool to room temperature. Then, lightly cover top with foil (leave the bottom foil on the cheesecake until you’re ready to slice it), and slide into the fridge for 4 hours, at least, or overnight.
3. Invite friends over. Slice cheesecake, serve, and thank the faeries.
