
Luscious, rich, sweet, and insanely delicious, this Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Irish Cream Caramel is a quintessence of a luxurious and decadent dessert.

Hello, my friends. Happy Friday! I hope you are so ready for this weekend, and I certainly hope you are going to indulge yourself with something utterly scrumptious. Did you say you are not prepared? No worries – I’ve got you covered. This Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Irish Cream Caramel is probably definitely something you need.
I made this cheesecake on my birthday. Indeed, there were two cakes involved around it. First I made another twist on that Honey Russian Cake on Friday. But that was a moderately small cake, and Andrey (mostly Andrey!) and I handled it very quickly. Specifically, it had gone by Saturday. Since I celebrated my birthday a couple of days later, on Tuesday, I decided I needed another cake. Have you ever read a book Karlsson-on-the-Roof by the Sweeden writer Astrid Lindgren? If not, you should definitely give it a try!
In a nutshell, Karlsson-on-the-Roof is a confident and mischievous man with a propeller who lives on the roof (surprising twist, eh!) of one of the Stockholm’s houses. He is also known for his sweet teeth. He mentioned once that a good person should always hope for their friend to stop by, and thus, should always have a cake (Hey, Kelsie, is this a reason you always have something delicious?). Also, when his friend, a boy Svante (Just a regular boy. He wasn’t lucky enough to have a propeller), was celebrating his birthday, Karlsson was a bit skeptical about a cake with eight candles. He said he’d rather prefer eight cakes with one candle.
I think Karlsson has pretty solid logic!
So I decided to make a cheesecake. Certainly, as I was turning 35, it needed to include some of my favorite ingredients and flavors. Like dulce de leche. Or Irish cream. Or both. I had combined these two things a couple of times, so I knew this would be a fantastic dessert. This Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Irish Cream Caramel didn’t get a particularly impeccable look (It also cracked which almost never happens to me. I am also not really happy with the pictures.) But the texture and the flavor were amazing, and that the most important aspect, right? And despite the name, it wasn’t too sweet as I decided dulce de leche would play the main role here – not sugar. Besides, that’s an excuse to pour more of this luscious caramel over the cheesecake!
Because a caramel cheesecake always needs some extra caramel. Agreed? :)
Cheers!



Ingredients
Cheesecake (20 cm diameter)
- About 1 and 1/3 cup oreo or graham crumbs
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 450 gr cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup thick dulce de leche + 2/3 cup more
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Caramel
- 5 tbsp salted butter, divided
- 2/3 cup Irish cream + 1-2 tbsp more
- 1/3 cup 35 % cream
- 1,5 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- a pinch of salt, if desired
Instructions
- To make the crust, combine the melted butter (it's easy to use food processor) with the oreo crumbs. Press into a 20 cm spring form pan. Bake the crust for about 7-8 minutes at 170 degrees C (350 degrees F) then remove and completely cool.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 140-150 degrees C (300 F). Place a pan filled with water on the lower rack of the oven.
- To make the cheesecake, in a large bowl beat with an electric mixer on low speed the cream cheese, 2/3 of dulce de leche, sugar, and vanilla for 2-3 minutes until the sugar has incorporated. Add the eggs and beat 1 minute to incorporate.
- Pour one filling into the cooled crust. Using a spoon, drop the remaining 2/3 of dulce de leche on the filling and then, using a knife or wooden stick, slightly combine the filling with caramel.
- Slightly tap the pan few times around the bottom - this will help to release the bubbles and decrease the possibility of cracking it.
- Bake the cheesecake for about 50-60 minutes. Check the cheesecake - the edges of the cheesecake should look firm and set while the center remains slightly fudgy. If it doesn't look like that yet, bake it for another 5-10 minutes.
- Turn the oven off and leave the cheese for another 20-30 minutes inside (You can open the door if you're afraid of overcooking it).
- Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let completely cool. Refrigerate overnight then loose the baking pan and, using a help of a knife if necessary, release the cheesecake.
- To make the caramel, grease a heavy bottom pan with 3 tbsp of the butter.
- Add the irish cream (2/3 cup), heavy cream, sugar, and corn syrup. Add the salt if using. Whisking a couple of times to incorporate the ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to low/low medium. Do not mix the mixture one it was brought to a boil!
- Simmer the caramel without whisking for about 20-30 minutes until the desired thickness. First 15 minutes there won't be happening a lot of things (it will remain thin), but then it will stat thickening quite fast so keep an eye.
- Once the caramel is ready, off heat, add 2 tbsp of butter and a splash (1-2 tbsp) of Irish cream. Let the butter melt them mix.
- Cool then refrigerate until ready to serve. Once cooled, it will thicken up more.
- Enjoy!

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
Well Happy Birthday again and why not celebrate with 2 cakes – you deserve it :) This cheesecake truly sings to me. All that caramel is just everything I need. Yum
This cake is calling my name! I am a dulche de leche fan like no other! And an Irish cream lover. Pinned!
Happy belated birthday Ben! This dulce de leche cheesecake with that thick caramel sauce was the perfect way to celebrate! I usually make a carrot cake for my birthday, but this decadent treat would be a nice change!
Can I be your neighbor? Maybe get a sliver? :) Looks amazing Ben and what a great way to celebrate your birthday for sure! So was it 35 candles and 1 cheesecake or … ? I like that logic!
Happy 35th, Ben! 35 cakes and one candle would really be something, lol!
We just got back from Buenos Aires and they’re obsessed with dulce de leche – after visiting, I kind of am too. ;) Hello, Alfajores! So this cheesecake is totally calling my name!
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Ben, now you are talking my language here. What an amazing looking cheesecake! And those flavours of Dulce de Leche and Irish Cream combined. Wow! It’s a while since I’ve baked a cheesecake (I normally do “no bake” ones as you know ;-) ) but when I do I’ll certainly be putting this on my list of considerations.
Hahaha! I’d like to say that’s the reason I bake but…really I bake for myself :). I haven’t read the book you mentioned but I think I’d love it because Pippi Longstocking (which she wrote, of course) was one of my favorite books as a kid. Now for this cheesecake, I know it would become my favorite. Dulce de leche anything is automatically amazing!
I love the flavor combination here, Ben…it sounds like the perfect dessert for sitting back and celebrating your birthday! Actually, using the logic from the story, shouldn’t you have had 35 cakes with 1 candle in each? I think that’s a much better idea, and I bet Andrey would agree with me! :-) Either way, happy belated birthday, my friend!
Ben – I so completely agree with you that there’s never enough caramel, although not sure I’d stop at a caramel cheesecake. Works for me on chocolate or vanilla cake, too! Ok or even pumpkin bread. This is a gorgeous cheesecake, thanks for the recipe, I’m pinning it for later!
This is one stunning cheesecake Ben and the flavours so rich and delicious. I seriously cannot stop staring at the gorgeous pictures. Absolutely beautiful :)