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Will Cook For Smiles

Layered Crème Brûlée Cheesecake

by 117 Comments

Decadent cheesecake layered with Crème Brûlée!

Layered Crème Brûlée Cheesecake from willcookforsmiles.com

This is one amazing cheesecake that you can’t go on without trying!

Delicious smooth cheesecake on top of the classic and elegant Crème Brûlée and some caramelized sugar on top!

Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake 5

I was just thinking about what inspires my recipes. Ingredients at the store,  pictures of food, culture, art, smells or “nothing in the fridge so you are forced to get creative”. Smell is probably one of my bigger inspirations for recipe creating. Have you ever smelled something and could actually taste it?
Last week, I received some new scents from Renuzit Air Fresheners. They came out with a new collection of scents called Tempting Indulgence. This collection had three tempting smells, which are Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Covered Cherries and Crème Brûlée. The smell is so real and delicious that it made me want to bite into it. I’m glad, I stopped myself because I’m pretty sure that it would poison me.

Renuzit

I was presented with a challenge to create a recipe inspired by one of the Tempting Indulgence smells. Ideas was swirling around in my head ever since I took on this challenge. I was very tempted to make a dessert based on all three scents but that would result in a spontaneous expansion of the waste and bottom areas. I decided not to take that risk and just go with one. Creme Brulee was the lucky scent!
Renuzit

 

While shopping for ingredients at WalMart, I noticed the Renuzit display. They have so many nice scents, some I’ve already tried and some that I would like to try. (See my shopping trip HERE).
There were so many ideas in my head that I actually found myself dreaming of desserts. Also can be bad to the waste line if you try to make all your dreams come true. I’ve thought of a cake, cupcakes, pies but none seemed to make me happy. One thought did make me pretty happy and I will share it with you some day soon. (I’ll give you a hint…Crème Brûlée Martini. Well that wasn’t a hint at all, was it?!)
Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake 4
I wanted to incorporate the authentic Crème Brûlée into the dessert. I came up with cheesecake and to take it one step further, I made it a layered cheesecake. It is a layer of cheesecake and a layer of Creme Brulee custard. With burned sugar on top, of course!

Ingredients:
For Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
5 tbs butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

For Cheesecake:
2  8-ounce packages of Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 Tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Crème Brûlée 
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
4 tbs of sugar
1/2 cup of extra fine sugar for burning
5 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
~ Grease a 9-inch spring form, set aside. Preheat the oven to 300.

For crust:
1. Crush the graham crackers in the food processor. Mix in the sugar. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Mix very well. Press graham crackers into the pan, evenly, all over the bottom and about half way up the side.

Cheesecake:
1. Start beating the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the vanilla extract and the heavy cream into the cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at the time,  beating after each addition.

3. Add the sour cream, sugar, corn starch and vanilla extract. Make sure that all ingredients are well combined.

4. Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan with crust. Place in the oven while making the Crème Brûlée custard. (about 13-15 minutes)

Crème Brûlée:
1. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine heavy cream and 4 tbs of sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until just starting to boil. Set aside.

2. Beat the egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. Pour in hot cream very slowly (if you do it too fast, you will cook the eggs), a little bit at a time. Do not stop beating the mixture.

3. Pour the mixture over the cheesecake. Here is where it got really interesting for me! I guess, I poured it a little too heavy, the creme brulee custard broke through the center of the cheesecake and the layers literally switched places! The creme brulee ended up on the bottom and cheesecake on the top! It was AWESOME!

4. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Renuzit

5. When chilled, take out of the refrigerator and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of extra fine sugar over the top. Using a cooking torch, move the flame continuously over the surface in a smooth and even motion until the sugar is melted and golden brown.

Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake

 Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake 2

Enjoy!!
4.17 from 6 votes
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Layered Crème Brûlée Cheesecake

Ingredients

  • For Crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 5 tbs butter melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • For Cheesecake:
  • 2 8- ounce packages of Cream Cheese at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup whipping cream
  • 1 Tablespoons corn starch
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Crème Brûlée:
  • 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
  • 4 tbs of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of extra fine sugar for burning
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. ~ Grease a 9-inch spring form, set aside. Preheat the oven to 300.
  2. For crust:
  3. Crush the graham crackers in the food processor. Mix in the sugar. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Mix very well. Press graham crackers into the pan, evenly, all over the bottom and about half way up the side.
  4. Cheesecake:
  5. Start beating the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes.
  6. Add the vanilla extract and the heavy cream into the cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at the time, beating after each addition.
  7. Add the sour cream, sugar, corn starch and vanilla extract. Make sure that all ingredients are well combined.
  8. Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan with crust. Place in the oven while making the Crème Brûlée custard. (about 13-15 minutes)
  9. Crème Brûlée:
  10. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine heavy cream and 4 tbs of sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until just starting to boil. Set aside.
  11. Beat the egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light. Pour in hot cream very slowly (if you do it too fast, you will cook the eggs), a little bit at a time. Do not stop beating the mixture.
  12. Pour the mixture over the cheesecake. Here is where it got really interesting for me! I guess, I poured it a little too heavy, the creme brulee custard broke through the center of the cheesecake and the layers literally switched places! The creme brulee ended up on the bottom and cheesecake on the top! It was AWESOME!
  13. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
  14. When chilled, take out of the refrigerator and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of extra fine sugar over the top. Using a cooking torch, move the flame continuously over the surface in a smooth and even motion until the sugar is melted and golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com

 Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake 3

 

Visit  Renuzit  Facebook page for more information!

 

* I am linking this recipe to   THESE GREAT PARTIES, in my party tab. Why don’t you visit the wonderful hosts and link some of your own projects!?

Creme-Brulee-Layered-Cheesecake 1

 

Lyuba
_________________

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Renuzit. All the photographs and opinions are my own!  #CBias #SocialFabric #TemptYourSenses

I love hearing from all of you so please leave a comment! I do my absolute best to answer all the comments. For immediate help, please message me on Will Cook For Smiles Facebook page.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. thecreativeprincess

    WOW!  That looks AMAZING!  I can not wait to try this recipe!  I also can not wait until these awesome scents hit the market! 

    Reply

  2. Apumpkinandaprincess

    For the 18237194871349 time…you are an amazing photographer and cook, seriously one of the best out there! One day your amazing recipes will land you amazing opportunities and you’ll deserve every single one. 🙂

    Reply

  6. Marie

    Hmmm like at home! Your idea is very interesting, I can try this with my own recipe of crème brûlée. Don’t hesitate to burn the top, it’s so good when you can broke the top with your spoon. :p

    Reply

  33. Laura J. Latham

    That looks absolutely heavenly!  Both my husband and I LOVE creme brulee.  Bookmarking this to try soon.

    Reply

  54. cathy@My 1929 Charmer

    Looking good, and wishing I had a piece right now. Cheesecake and brulee – oh my. So yummy.

    So glad you shared your creative inspiration with Sunday’s
    Best – your creativity helped make the
    party a success!

    Reply

  58. Deana @ CountryMommaCooks

    Thanks for stopping by CountryMommaCooks and linking up at our Saturday Link and Greet Party…hope to see you again tonight : )
    Deana @ CountryMommaCooks

    Reply

  62. Amanda

    Oh wow, this looks AMAZING! I love creme brulee, it’s my all time favorite dessert and I never ever ever get tired of eating it. I’ll have to give this a try!

    I would love it if you would link up at Martha Mondays, open every Monday morning through Wednesday night!

    http://www.watchoutmartha.net

    ~Amanda

    Reply

  69. Kelly

    I made this yesterday and enjoyed it today. It turned out very well. Mine also switched layers. The only modification I made was to cook the cake in a water bath as I do for all of my cheesecakes. I cooked it for 20 or 25 minutes before adding the creme layer.

    Reply

  70. KARACAKE

    Hey there Lyuba! I had my first piece of creme brûlée cheesecake at a restaurant recently with my SIL & niece, we all proclaimed it was ridiculously good & that I HAD to make it for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Sure, no pressure. After much analyzing and researching, I landed on your fabulous recipe. Headed to BB&Beyond & bought a torch & a good double boiler pan. I made the cheesecake last night and this morning I bruleed the top. I made a few changes…I used sweet butter & crushed Nilla wafers for the crust based on that restaurant cheesecake. I found a few very minor corrections in your recipe..you mention to add the vanilla twice in the cheesecake part of the directions, make sure to wrap the bottom of the springform pan in foil or place it on a lipped baking pan or else your butter will leak out of the pan into your oven, leave the finished cheesecake in the oven with the door open to cool, then finish cooling it on a rack before placing it in the fridge to avoid cracks.

    Now the review…omg..nom..nom!! It’s the real deal…I’m not changing anything else. The crispy burnt sugar top-crunch! The super creamy & fluffy cheesecake layer-mmm! The creamy-sweet creme layer-yummo! The cookie bottom-crunchy & candied! Wowee! Thank you so much for your hard work, beautiful pictures and finally for giving the world your recipe. I can now go to Thanksgiving at my SIL’s with my head held high and watch as the family scarfs down this masterpiece. If you can make a cheesecake and temper eggs, you can make this..it’s simply delicious. Now where is that crepe boston creme cake? You’re next on my list…

    Reply

    • lyuba

      I am so happy that you love it!! It truly is a great recipe and everyone who make it seems to enjoy it! You have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank you for your tips! I will definitely try that next time I make a cheesecake 🙂

      Reply

  71. sarah hewitt

    do you have any advice on how to make sure the creme brulee stays as the top layer? maybe make sure the cheesecake bakes a little longer before adding the creme brulee mixture?

    •sorry, i originally commented on the caramel apple cheesecake, but i meant to leave the comment for this recipe!

    Reply

    • lyuba

      Hi, Sarah!
      I can suggest pouring the creme brulee very slowly and may be over a spoon, that way it’s not a harsh stream coming down and breaking the cheesecake surface. You can also bake the cheesecake for a few minutes longer. Hope it will work!

      Reply

  72. Tanya

    It’s in the oven as we speak. After being shafted once again by my mother in law… She Always does Christmas lunch and it’s always the same boring gammon and peas. This year I insisted on dessert. I actually had the idea of creme brulle and cheescake layered and searched for receipts. Yours is only one I found and by the pictures it looks amazing, I’m not going to do the burnt sugar on top, instead I have decided to do caramel swirls on top, looking forward to trying that now. I’ll post tomorrow with the verdict. So excited to blow mother in law out the park. (I love my parents in law, a lot, but when it comes to food, we have a major disagreement)

    Reply

    • lyuba

      I am so excited to find out how you liked it! This is the most made recipe on my site and so far I hear all good things. Merry Christmas and I can’t wait to hear how you liked it 🙂

      Reply

      • Tanya

        Hiya, sorry for the late reply.

        The desert was amazing!! However I think I left it in the oven too long, I was worried that it was too wobbly, without realizing that it actually sets in the fridge. Everyone loved it. I didn’t get the caramel swirls right though..haha. That was tricky. So I just did caramel shards with silver balls to make it Christmassy. I will do this again and follow the recipient to a tee this time. Lovely dessert. Thank you for sharing all your amazing ideas with us.

        Reply

        • lyuba

          I’m so glad you liked it! It would be a little wobbly when you take it out and it sets on the counter and then the fridge. I am not sure what caramel you are talking about. Did you add caramel? How was it? It sounds like it would be good 🙂

          Reply

  73. T. Villeneuve

    I tried this recipe on Sunday Jan 2014 . I cooked the chese cake for 25 mins rather then the 10-15 mins.. When I poured the creme brule over the top it didn’t reverse the layers. Which is what I was looking for . So I was actually able to tortch the creme brule like it should be. I brought it into work and everyone loved it. Once I poured the creme brule on the top of the cheese cake it took a good 3 hrs to bake at 300 degrees Fah. But it was worthi it.

    Reply

  75. Joseph Rue

    I made your Layered Creme Brulee Cheesecake for my wife and her co-workers. They absolutely loved it. I’m told the cheesecake was devoured in an hour and a half.
    Thanks for sharing your recipe
    Joe

    Reply

    • lyuba

      Yay!! That makes me so happy 🙂
      I’m so glad that everyone liked it. I hope you will get a piece next time 🙂

      Reply

  76. Christale L.

    This cake is AMAZING!!! <3 The only problem is, when I cut the cake to eat it, the cheesecake layer was liquidy (center part only). I don't know if it was because of the torch I used or if I didn't bake the cheesecake layer long enough. I've made this twice and it has happened twice. Please help! Thanks!

    Reply

    • lyuba

      Hi, Christale! I’m so happy that you like the cheesecake! It sounds like it’s not baking all the way through. I would suggest turning the oven off at the end and cracking the oven door open. Don’t take out the cheesecake yet but let it sit in the oven with heat turned off and door ajar for about 10 more minutes (you can even do 15 if you want to be sure). Hopefully this will take your cheesecake all the way to the right consistency.

      Reply

  77. JJ Cunningham

    I made it yesterday for a potluck. I cooked it 40 mins. longer than you said, it was still wobbly in the center, but I finally took it out. I have a convection oven so maybe that was the problem???
    When serving it I could not find the two distinct layers, it all just looked like regular cheesecake. I ref. it for 4 hours but it was not really cold. Next time, I will make it a day ahead so it chills longer. It was good for sure. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

    • lyuba

      Hi JJ. I haven’t heard of baking in a convection oven and I wouldn’t recommend it.
      The batter may have mixed while you poured the creme brulee batter and it’s probably because the cheesecake part was still raw. Definitely try using a regular oven but I am so glad that you still liked the taste! Also, if you used an 8-inch spring form vs a 9-inch spring form, the cheesecake would have been thicker in size. That could alter baking and cooling time.
      Thank you!

      Reply

      • Trina

        Baking in a convection reduces cooking time not adds to it. Baking with convection is the ultimate. Beautiful even heat and a lot of top chefs recommend baking with convection.

        Reply

  79. Lynne

    Howdy. just wondering if you have ever tried to freeze this cheesecake? I am wondering about baking it now for the holiday season.

    Reply

  81. Leslee McDonald

    I would recommend using a ‘Bain marie’ or water bath for the Cheesecake while it bakes…especially when using a convection oven. I always use the bath for cheesecakes and Creme brulee, I am a baker for a living and all we use in restaurants are convection ovens. The bath prevents the cracking over the top, the mixing of layers, and helps bake evenly. Ifor the cakes are still.not baking completely, then it is an issue of too much mixture in the pan.
    This recipe cheesecake sounds amazing.

    Reply

    • lyuba

      Hi Leslee!
      I do use Bain Marie now. This was one of my early (very early) cheesecakes and I didn’t use that technique back then. I definitely love all the benefits from the water bath 🙂

      Reply

  82. Ridge

    In my quest for the perfect cheesecake, I ran across this recipe. Like most people, here, I found this recipe to be enticing, but it does have some stiff competition; my last cake was a coconut/lemon cheesecake. It drove several people insane. So, I got up this morning and followed these instructions to a “T”. Right now, the cake is in the fridge cooling and waiting for the sugar and torch. (It took an extra 16 minutes to get the color and “done-ness” to where I wanted it to be.) It didn’t achieve the height that is apparent in the photo(s). But, I’m looking forward to serving it tonight.

    Will let you know, ok?

    Reply

    • Ridge

      Okay. The deed was done. The overall response to this cheesecake produced more positive responses to its texture than its flavor, which was lacking, in spite of three doses of vanilla. I used a good, organic vanilla extract, but that didn’t do the trick. Using whole beans might have made a difference. Maybe not. Physically, as I stated above, it didn’t obtain the height seen in the photos. The Crème Brûlée did its job, but the cheese seemed to sink under the weight of the Crème Brûlée. As stated above, I had to add 16 minutes to the baking time to achieve the desired results, but some of that time could have been used in the first round of baking the cheesecake, only. This may have made it dense enough to withstand the weight of the top layer (which, by the way, stayed on top!). The most flavorful component was the caramelized sugar on top. The over-all cake needed an edge, flavor-wise. Now that the cake is baked and there’s some left from last night, I’m going to add an organic peach syrup. I’ll try this recipe again with the syrup infused and baked into the cake.
      There’s potential, here…the kind that makes you dizzy and levitates you several inches above your seat. I think that, even if it was baked flawlessly, it would still have been flat, taste-wise. Am thinking that Peach in the cheese and lemon in the Crème Brûlée might do the trick.

      I’m lowering the recipe to a “3”, leaving some room for improvement. Thanks. Was fun to make.

      Reply

      • lyuba

        Hi Ridge!
        I just realized that I didn’t noticed your comment. I’m so sorry!
        First, thank you for your thorough breakdown!
        Vanilla and creme brulee are not a popping kind of flavors, I agree. It is a mild cheesecake. To add more flavor pops, you can absolutely add vanilla bean to both cheesecake and creme brulee parts. A caramel drizzle would be a nice compliment to this cheesecake as well. If you want to take in another way, you can make the cheesecake part lemon flavored and have a lemon/creme brulee flavor combination.
        I agree on the improvement 🙂 It’s been quite a few years since I first made this cheesecake. Check out my newer cheesecakes for some that may interest you.

        Reply

    • lyuba

      Hi Janice!
      A couple of thoughts:
      Did you try to cut it before it was cooled and refrigerated? 15 and then 45 minutes should be enough to cook through but you can absolutely try adding 10-15 more minutes. Then, turn off the oven and crack it open. Let it sit in the oven for about 10 minutes.
      Definitely make sure it’s cooled on the counter for about an hour and then in the refrigerator for about 4 hours before cutting.
      I hope it all works well!

      Reply

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