This easy espresso martini cheesecake recipe is rich and decadent with all of the components of the beloved cocktail.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hey everybody, it's Brooke in the Delish Kitchen studios.
00:03 Today I'm making something for all my
00:05 espresso martini girlies out there.
00:07 It's an espresso martini cheesecake.
00:10 Don't be intimidated by that, it's super easy.
00:13 Probably easier than a regular cheesecake,
00:15 but you have the added bonus of having a little bit
00:18 of booze in there and a little bit of espresso flavor
00:21 to make this the perfect thing to feed
00:23 to all the girlfriends on a long, lazy weekend.
00:26 I'm so excited about this one because espresso
00:28 is one of my all time favorite flavors for any dessert.
00:31 So I've got some tricks to help us get it perfect.
00:34 Come on.
00:35 To get started with our espresso martini cheesecake,
00:38 gotta make the crust first.
00:40 Like any good cheesecake,
00:41 the crust only has three ingredients.
00:43 We wanted to keep it super, super simple.
00:45 My favorite ingredient in this crust is Oreos.
00:48 Yes, whole Oreos.
00:49 We're gonna use the whole Oreo with the cream filling.
00:51 We're gonna keep the cream in the Oreos
00:54 because that cream is actually gonna help
00:55 the crumbs hold together a little bit better.
00:57 So don't scrape that out.
00:58 We wanna leave them completely whole.
01:00 Into the food processor, we're going to add 24 whole Oreos,
01:04 four tablespoons of melted butter,
01:07 and just a pinch of kosher salt.
01:09 Once that's all in there, pulse and pulse and pulse
01:12 until you've got it finely ground and it's nice and sandy.
01:16 You should be able to pinch some of the crust
01:18 in your fingers and have it hold together
01:20 when you pinch it.
01:21 I'm gonna go ahead and transfer it to my springform pan.
01:27 A rubber spatula is great for making sure
01:29 you've got everything off the bottom and the sides.
01:31 There's one thing that I really can't stand
01:33 about eating and making cheesecakes
01:35 is when they have an uneven crust.
01:37 Like I hate when it's really thin on one side
01:39 and really thick on the other.
01:40 It just makes everything not look great
01:42 and it also makes it not bake quite as evenly.
01:44 So I've developed a little trick for myself
01:47 over the course of however many cheesecakes
01:49 I've made at this point.
01:50 I don't know, it's definitely somewhere
01:51 in the high double digits.
01:53 The trick is to get a glass that has a really flat bottom
01:58 and really straight sides.
01:59 So you want it like a nice 90 degree angle
02:01 that's gonna mimic the same 90 degree angle
02:03 that you have on your springform pan
02:05 between the bottom and the wall.
02:07 So take my glass, spray it with a little bit of Pam
02:11 just so you don't get any stickage.
02:14 And then once you've got your crust
02:16 pretty even on the bottom,
02:18 you can start using your glass to like stamp the crust down
02:21 and make it nice and even.
02:22 My crust is not perfect, but you know what?
02:25 I give myself like an 85%.
02:27 It's a solid B plus.
02:28 I'm gonna go ahead and bake this at 325
02:31 for about 12 minutes.
02:32 You should start to be able to smell Oreo in the air
02:35 as it bakes and that'll let you know it's done.
02:37 For the filling in this espresso martini cheesecake,
02:40 there's a step that I find just a little bit genius.
02:43 To start off, we're going to add some heavy cream
02:45 to a small saucepan over medium heat.
02:48 To that heavy cream, we're gonna add our espresso powder.
02:51 That espresso powder is going to dissolve
02:53 and infuse its flavor into the heavy cream.
02:56 Then we're gonna let that cool
02:57 before we add it to the rest of our cheesecake filling.
03:00 I love this step so much because I really hate
03:02 when I get an espresso flavored dessert
03:05 and I'm crunching on tiny bits of espresso granule
03:07 or espresso beans.
03:08 It's not my favorite.
03:10 So the fact that we skipped that part here, I love it.
03:13 For the rest of our espresso martini cheesecake filling,
03:16 we're going to bust out our stand mixer
03:17 or you can use a handheld mixer.
03:19 Into the bowl of the mixer,
03:21 we're going to add some cream cheese,
03:23 a little bit of granulated sugar.
03:25 We're gonna mix that until it's all smooth and homogenous.
03:28 Then we're going to add eggs one at a time.
03:31 Blend those in.
03:32 Then we're gonna add a splash of Kahlua
03:34 and a pinch of salt.
03:36 Mix that all together until it's nice and smooth.
03:38 Last but not least, I'm going to add this cooled
03:42 instant espresso cream mixture to our cream cheese.
03:46 You wanna make sure this is completely cool
03:48 before you add it 'cause there are eggs in this batter.
03:51 So you don't want this to be hot
03:52 and potentially cook the eggs in your batter
03:54 'cause then you'd have scrambled egg
03:56 espresso martini cheesecake and that's gross.
03:58 Now it's time for our cheesecake assembly.
04:01 We've got our cooled crust here, our filling ready to go.
04:05 Before I add the filling to the crust,
04:07 I'm going to take some foil
04:08 and just wrap up the bottom of the springform pan.
04:14 Since we're baking this cheesecake in a water bath,
04:16 wrapping the bottom of the pan in foil
04:18 is going to help that pan from any water
04:22 escaping into the pan and up under your crust,
04:24 which will give you soggy crust, which we don't want.
04:27 So make sure you wrap a good snug two layers around your pan
04:31 so that it's like pretty watertight
04:32 and you won't have a lot of leakage.
04:34 Now I'm gonna add the filling right to the crust.
04:37 Like any good cheesecake,
04:38 we're gonna bake this one in a water bath.
04:41 What a water bath does is help the custard cook
04:43 a lot more evenly while it's in the oven.
04:45 You'll be a lot less prone to having cracks
04:47 in the top of your cheesecake and having uneven cooking.
04:50 So don't skip the water bath for this step.
04:52 It's a little bit of a pain in the butt,
04:53 but it's totally worth it.
04:55 I'm gonna put this in a 325 degree oven
04:57 for about an hour and a half
04:59 or until the center is just slightly jiggly.
05:02 You don't want it too, too jiggly,
05:03 but you also don't want it super firm.
05:05 I'm gonna set this in the oven first
05:06 and then I'm gonna go ahead
05:08 and pour the water bath around it
05:09 so I don't have to slosh while I'm carrying it to the oven.
05:12 After our cake has baked for an hour and a half,
05:15 leave it in the oven to cool for another hour
05:18 with the door propped just slightly.
05:20 That'll give the cheesecake a chance
05:21 to cook through completely
05:23 and you won't have a raw cheesecake.
05:25 Once it's cooled in the oven for an hour,
05:27 you can remove the foil
05:29 and then transfer the cheesecake to the refrigerator
05:31 to chill for at least eight hours.
05:33 Overnight is really best.
05:35 I'm gonna get started on the whipped topping
05:37 for our espresso martini cheesecake.
05:40 Into the bowl of a stand mixer,
05:42 gonna pour our heavy cream,
05:44 our confectioner's sugar, and our espresso powder.
05:46 And we're gonna beat that on like medium high speed
05:49 until we get nice, soft, fluffy peaks.
05:52 We don't want it to be over whipped
05:53 'cause we want it to be nice and spreadable
05:55 for the top of our cheesecake.
05:56 Our cheesecake is all nice and cool,
05:58 which means it's time to add our whipped topping.
06:01 So we're just gonna smoothly spread that whipped topping
06:03 over the top of the cheesecake,
06:05 completely covering the whole cake.
06:07 Then we're going to grab a sheet of parchment paper,
06:10 lay that over just half of the cake,
06:12 and gently dust some cocoa powder over the exposed half.
06:16 When you move the parchment,
06:17 you'll have a nice, clean, sharp line of cocoa powder.
06:21 Then we're gonna top our cheesecake
06:22 with a couple of espresso beans,
06:24 just so we get the same vibe of an espresso martini.
06:27 Espresso is by far one of my favorite flavors
06:30 of dessert of any kind.
06:32 So when McKenzie developed this one,
06:33 I was just completely over the moon
06:36 and I was too excited to eat it.
06:38 And I was too excited to eat it again this time,
06:40 so I've actually already taken a bite out of it
06:42 'cause I'm impatient.
06:43 But I'll take another bite so you guys can
06:46 witness it in all its glory.
06:48 Mm-hmm, it's just as good as the first bite.
06:53 It's so tangy, it's creamy,
06:56 it's got the right amount of espresso in there,
06:58 it's not overwhelming.
06:59 It literally tastes like somebody took a latte
07:02 and turned it into a cheesecake.
07:04 This is out of this world.
07:06 And it's not too heavy,
07:08 which is hard to do with a cheesecake.
07:10 I feel like a lot of cheesecakes are too dense.
07:12 They're too cheesy, they've got too much sugar.
07:14 This one is light, it's like air.
07:16 I could honestly crush two slices of this
07:18 even though I know I probably shouldn't.
07:20 This is so, this is the perfect dessert.
07:22 I love this.
07:23 This is perfect for a birthday celebration
07:25 if you wanna go a little bit outside the box.
07:27 Or honestly, any time.
07:29 This is a cake that you can make year round.
07:31 And if you want more amazing cheesecakes
07:33 just like this one, keep it right here at delish.com.
07:36 (upbeat music)
07:38 (upbeat music)