Today, I’ve decided that it’s time for another recipe post! As you’ll know by now, I have a massive sweet tooth, and I love baking cakes, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and making desserts of all kind. At my work, we get cake at lunch every Wednesday (I know, we’re ridiculously spoiled!), and a couple of weeks ago, it was Argentina week and we had a lovely pound cake with a dulce de leche sauce.
So that gave me the idea of trying to make dulce de leche myself, and it turns out it couldn’t be easier: you buy a can of sweetened condensed milk and boil it in simmering water for about two hours - done! You can find the instructions here (although in this recipe, the milk is cooked for three hours, which yields a bit darker, thicker caramel - I cooked mine for two, for a lighter result).
And then I came across this recipe from a young, creative, and very talented Danish food blogger, and I knew that I had to make my own version of it. It’s slightly adapted but heavily inspired by Anna’s. I’ve once again teamed up with my friend from Les Grands Chais de France to find the perfect wine to go with this dessert: a classy, bubbly, crémant rosé. Like last time, it’s a wine you can find at your local supermarket at a really fair price.
Mini cheesecakes with (salted) dulce de leche
(makes 6 individual portions)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
35g almonds
35g æblekagerasp (this stuff, otherwise use smashed butter biscuits)
15g butter
150g Philadelphia Light cream cheese
100g skyr with vanilla
100ml whipping cream
10g (1 tbsp) confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt
some chopped almonds and raspberries for decoration
This requires some preparation, as you’ll have to make the dulce de leche first. Peel off the label of the milk can and place it on its side in a large pot filled with water - the can must be covered at all times! Bring to a simmer and let simmer (below the boiling point) for two hours. Take out the can and let it cool down for about an hour before opening (it should be at least room temperature). Stir until smooth. You won’t be using all the dulce de leche for this recipe, but it keeps in the fridge for about three weeks.
To make the crust, place the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes using your oven’s grill function, until fragrant. Take them out and finely grind them using a food processor. Melt the butter in a small pot. When the butter is melted, add the ground almonds and æblekagerasp and stir to combine. Distribute the crust evenly into six small glasses and press with the back side of a spoon.
If you’re into salted caramel, take 4-5 tablespoons of the dulce de leche and combine with about half a teaspoon of sea salt. Stir to combine, and add more salt if desired. Otherwise, you can omit the sea salt and simply use the dulce de leche as-is. Put about one teaspoon full of the (salted) caramel onto the crust.
In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, skyr, confectioner’s sugar, and lemon juice, and stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the cream using a hand mixer, until it’s softly whipped (not too stiff). Combine with the cream cheese mix and stir until smooth and even. Distribute the cream into the glasses and cool for 1-2 hours before serving. I recommend to add the caramel topping only a couple of minutes before serving - top off each glass with 1-2 teaspoons of the caramel. Decorate with some chopped almonds and a raspberry as desired.
These little cheesecakes pack about 225 kcal a piece, which I think is totally fair, as they are absolutely delish! You could probably save a couple of calories by using Cremefine instead of heavy cream, or tuning down the amount of dulce de leche used (which I don’t recommend because it is oh-so-yum!). Or you could just say, screw it, dig into two of these babies, and eat the remaining dulce de leche directly from the can with a spoon. Which is what I would do (may have done). Enjoy!
Wine recommendation:
Seeing as this dessert is already quite sweet with the caramel sauce, I wouldn’t recommend to serve this with a classic dessert wine, such as a Sauternes. Instead, why not class the whole thing up with some bubbles? I’ve tried the Crémant from Dulong, and I really like it, both on its own and alongside an appetizer or a dessert. It’s a Crémant de Bordeaux, available as a Brut, Demi Sec, and Rosé Brut, which is the one I chose for this dessert. It is a dry wine with fine bubbles, and its notes of red fruits work really well with this dessert, especially if you choose to decorate with berries. You’ll find this bubbly delight at Irma supermarkets for about DKK 120 per bottle (in my local Irma, they often have promotions with two bottles for DKK 200).
The wine for this post was kindly provided by Les Grands Chais de France. I received no further compensation for the post. All opinions expressed are, as always, my own.
Sarita@TheOrangeGiftBag says
Looks deliciously decadent Laura!
Laura says
Thanks! I tried to keep them a bit lighter with the skyr, but the caramel is really scrumptious!