Tiramisu Cheesecake

This is my absolute favorite cheesecake. It’s a total show-stopper and 100% as delicious as it looks. Whenever I make this, I have to either give it away or hide it from myself. If it hangs around the house I cannot resist the temptation! It’s super creamy and has a great coffee flavor without being overwhelming. It’s also not sickening sweet which I tend to prefer in desserts. It’s pretty much perfection!

Cheesecakes were a really difficult thing for me to master when I first started baking. I made several awful ones that had giant cracks in the middle! One time I made my brother a marbled cheesecake for his birthday and I didn’t bake it long enough, so when he sliced inside it ran out like pudding! Haha, how embarrassing. After many attempts, I have finally learned all the tricks to making perfect cheesecakes so this will be a bit of a lengthy post as I explain my how-to’s.

Holy Grail Tips for Cheesecakes:

Allow yourself a lot of time to bake a cheesecake: I usually make mine the day before I plan on serving it. Cheesecakes require a lengthy bake time and hours to refrigerate before they are ready to serve. They are best served really cold so make sure you give yourself ample time to make them.

Use quality ingredients: I recommend using brand name cream cheese in a cheesecake because it creams better and results in a smoother texture. I normally just buy the store brand for other types of recipes, but I think using Philadelphia brand for a cheesecake is really important because it’s the primary ingredient here and for cheesecakes, it’s all about the right texture.

For this crust, I used Biscoff cookies because 1 – I really love their flavor and 2- I don’t like graham cracker crusts, they’re boring! A biscoff cookie is like a mixture between a biscotti, a ginger snap, and a shortbread. I dare you to not eat one while you’re making this! They are really good.

Between the layers of filling in this cheesecake I added espresso soaked ladyfingers. That’s what makes it tiramisu and it adds a subtle but delicious coffee flavor to the filling. I found these ladyfingers at Publix, but they are hard to find in general. If you can’t find any, I would suggest using Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies instead. I’ve tested that theory and it tastes great. One note about this step: dip and place the cookies quickly! Once they are soaked in espresso, they break down quickly and can crumble before you get them placed. The good thing is, the layer of cookies is in the center of the cheesecake so no one will ever know if it’s a hot mess!

Prepping the cheesecake for cooking: The first thing I do is cut a parchment paper circle to place in the bottom of the springform pan. This goes between the pan and the crust so that when you get ready to serve the cheesecake, you can easily slide it out of the pan and onto a cake stand for display. It can be difficult to pry the cheesecake out of the pan without messing it up without this liner. If you’re not displaying it on a stand, don’t bother.

Use a water bath with a crockpot liner: This is the MOST important tip! In order to have a smooth cheesecake with no cracks, you need to use a water bath so it cooks evenly. Put a crockpot liner around the springform pan inside the water bath to keep the water from seeping into the crust and making your crust soggy. A springform pan has a detachable bottom, so there’s a crack where water can seep in while cooking. This hack was a genius idea that works perfect for me every time. I put a couple paper towels between the liner and the springform pan to absorb and condensation or melted butter that might leak from the pan. Here’s a picture of how this looks:

So in summary from the bottom up: I use a deep roasting pan as my base. Then I have the crockpot liner, a layer of paper towels, and the springform pan with my cooked crust in it. Then I pour water in the roasting pan outside of the plastic liner until it’s about halfway up the side of your springform pan. Now I’m ready to add my filling and bake.

Cooling the cheesecake: After the cheesecake has cooked the allotted time, gently jiggle the cheesecake pan to see if it’s done. It should have a slight jiggle but not too much. I wish I could describe how this looks, but unfortunately it’s a bit of a guessing game. Once you’ve made a few cheesecakes you just know what the jiggle should look like! When it’s done, turn off the oven but don’t take it out just yet… you want to let the heat slowly escape the oven. Cheesecakes are very sensitive. I wedge a wooden spoon in the door and let it cool inside the oven for an hour.

See, no cracks! After that, you can take the cheesecake out and refrigerate it. I would let it refrigerate for about 2 hours before making the topping or any decoration. This particular cheesecake has a piped mixture on top. I let the cheesecake refrigerate for 2 hours before preparing the topping and piping it on. Then I refrigerate it another hour before serving.

Whew! That was a lot of information. Now to the fun part of decorating. This recipe has a piped topping made of fresh whipped cream, more cream cheese, and a white chocolate pudding mix. I used a Wilton 2A tip and a piping bag for this design. You basically hold it in place close to the cheesecake surface to create pressure, squeeze the filling out until you have the right height, then stop squeezing before gently lifting up. That should create a dollop effect. If you’re unsure about how to do this, practice on a plate first. You can always re-use the filling.

Then I dusted the cheesecake with dark cocoa powder. I did all the decorating with the springform pan still attached because I wanted to contain the mess and not get anything on the sides of the cheesecake.

Back to the refrigerator to finish cooling, and there you have it! Seriously, this cheesecake is so amazing, people will be fighting for the leftovers. When you slice into it, you can see the beautiful layer of soaked ladyfingers and that biscoff cookie crust at the bottom. Honestly, it doesn’t get any better than this y’all! This cheesecake is what dreams are made of.