Eggless, smooth and creamy Masala Chai Cheesecake is flavored with warm spices like cardamom, cinnamon and real tea. Makes a great make-ahead dessert for just about any occasion!
3tablespoonsbutter42 grams, melted and slightly cooled, I used salted butter
Filling
1/2cup + 3 tablespoonsheavy cream165 ml
3black tea bags
12ozcream cheeseat room temperature
3/4cupgranulated white sugar150 grams
1/3cup + 1 tablespoonsour cream95 ml, at room temperature
1teaspooncardamom powder
1teaspooncinnamon powder
1/2teaspoonground ginger
1/8teaspoonground cloves
2tablespoonscornstarch25 grams
Instructions
Add 165 ml of heavy cream (1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons) to a pan on medium heat and let it heat up (not boiled). Once it is heated, add 3 black tea bags to it. Stir and press the tea bags a little with a fork and then cover the pan with a lid and let sit for 20 minutes so that the tea can seep into the cream.After 20 minutes, remove the tea bags from the cream. While removing the tea bags, press each against the pan so that you can get the maximum tea flavor out from each one of them. Your tea flavored heavy cream is now ready. Set this aside.
To make the crust, first preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Add 20 biscoff cookies to a food processor and pulse until you get cookie crumbs. We need 1 & 1/4 cup cup cookie crumbs for this recipe so you can use any cookie of choice but the amount should remain same.Transfer the cookie crumbs to a bowl and add 3 tablespoons melted butter to it and stir until everything is combined and the mixture resembles wet sand.
Lightly grease a 7.5-inch springform pan. Transfer the mixture to the greased pan. Press the cookie crumbs into the pan with the back of a measuring cup or spoon so that it is tightly packed. Bake the crust at 325 F degrees for 6 minutes. Once baked, remove the pan from the oven and let it chill in the freezer while you work on the filling.
To the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use hand mixer), add 12 oz cream cheese. It's very important that the cream cheese is at room temperature. Beat the cream cheese using paddle attachment for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Then add in 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar and beat for 1 more minute until well combined and smooth.
Now, add the sour cream (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon), the prepared heavy cream-tea mix, 1 teaspoon cardamom powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves and 2 tablespoons cornstarch (25 grams). Mix until everything is well combined and you have a smooth and lump-free batter.
Take the crust out of the freezer. Wrap it with 2 layers of aluminum foil from the sides and the bottom. We will bake the cheesecake using a water bath (bain marie method) so that it cooks evenly and the layers of aluminum foil prevent any water seeping into the pan as the cheesecake bakes in the oven.
Pour the filling over the crust and spread it out using a spatula. Transfer the pan into a larger rectangular pan. I have used a 13x9-inch pan here. Carefully pour hot water around the pan so that it comes around 1 to 2 inches up to the side of the cake pan.
Bake at 300 F degrees for 45 minutes. When baked completely, it should still jiggle in the middle while the edges look set. Once 45 minutes are up, turn off the oven and let the oven door remain ajar (use a wooden spatula for this) for 10 minutes. Then take the pan out of the oven. Remove the aluminum foil carefully. Let the cheesecake sit on the counter for 30 minutes. Then wrap the cheesecake and chill overnight in the fridge or for a minimum of 6 hours. Drizzle with dulce de leche and serve!
Notes
Add or delete spices as per your preference. You can add all spice, ground peppercorn as well.
This cheesecake can be easily made up to 48 hours in advance. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
You can use any cookie of choice like ginger snaps, digestives etc.
I have topped the cheesecake with dulce de leche but whipped cream will also go well.