Gingerbread Latte Cheesecake
I have a thing for the Biscoff Lotus cookies. I love them. I was on a flight once and they had them. I was fly first class. The flight attendant didn’t hand them out to us. She kept them for herself. I gave her a huge stink eye and sat and sulked to myself.
Gingerbread is a subset of the flavor of those cookies. Or not, who knows and who cares. I wanted to make a cheesecake and use the Biscoff cookies as the crust. Nothing goes better with those cookies than coffee. Starbucks hates me and stopped doing the Gingerbread Latte, in the US, 2 years ago. I’m basic leave me alone I get it. Gingerbread Latte as the cheesecake flavor seemed to be the perfect pairing, and should give me the missing Gingerbread Latte drink fix I’ve been hoping for. Up to this point I’ve never made gingerbread and I think I’ve made, maybe, one cheesecake. I’m a bit out of my league here. I took some time and did some research to see what I should be looking for. What’s the best way to bake and so on and so forth. With a cheesecake that’s baked you have to worry about cracking and getting the eggs properly cooked so it sets up. All fears aside I jumped into this project and came out with a successful cheesecake. It was perfectly creamy with a wonderful spiced flavor. I bought myself a 10 inch springform pan for the occasion.
When you’re baking your cheesecake there are 2 things you’re supposed to do. 1 is wrap the bottom of the springform pan in tinfoil to prevent the water from getting in, and 2 is to put it in a water bath. The tinfoil should help with even heat distribution. The water bath prevents the oven from drying out the cheesecake and causing cracking. I think it helps cook the eggs too but I can’t remember. I’m new to this so bear with me. So I went ahead and wrapped it up. I was ready to put it into the water bath when I realized it wouldn’t fit into the pan I had planned on using. I’m not sure where I saw it but someone else online said F that noise you don’t need to put it in a water bath. You can take the pan of water and put it on the oven rack right below the cheesecake and you should be fine. Well I had no other option at this point. Let me tell you that’s one of the best baking hacks I’m aware of. It worked perfectly! No cracking and a properly cooked and set cheesecake. Phew. Anyway get out your forks and get your Gingerbread Latte fix.
Ingredients
Crust:
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 Cups Biscoff Cookies crush into crumbs (1 - 8.8oz sleeve)
1 Tablespoon of ground espresso
Cheesecake
24 oz cream cheese
1 Cup dark brown sugar - packed
1 Tablespoon of ground espresso
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
4 large eggs
1/4 cup unsulfered molasses
2 shots of espresso
Instructions
Crust:
Preheat the oven to 325 Degrees
Put the Biscoff Cookies into a gallon bag and crush with a rolling pin
Mix in 1 Tablespoon of ground espresso
Melt the 1/2 Cup of butter
Combine the crushed cookies, mixed with espresso, and the melted butter until combined
Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan
Bake for 12 minutes, set aside to cool
Cheesecake:
In a medium sized bowl mix the brown sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
Whip the cream cheese on medium using the paddle attachment for 1 - 2 minutes
Mix in the brown sugar spice mix
Mix in the vanilla, molasses, and brewed espresso shots
Mix in the eggs two at a time
Pour mixture on top of the crust in the spingform pan
Fill a roasting pan with hot water and put it on the lowest rack in the oven
Bake the cheese cake on the rack above the water at 325 for 65-70 minutes
Once baked, turn off the oven, open the oven door slightly, and let the cheesecake cool for an hour
Remove from the oven and let cool for another hour
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight if possible
