Eggless Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake is an amazing dessert with four different layers inspired by the viral Dubai Chocolate.
The cheesecake has four layer – the base is a crispy crumbly kunafa, the soft rose cheesecake, the pistachio and kunafa filling on top of the cheesecake and a creamy dark chocolate ganache as the topping.
The first time I baked this cheesecake, I prebaked the base. SO it slightly shrunk and there was a gap between the base and the side wall of the cake tin. When I poured the cheesecake filling inside, it just went to the bottom and got collected in the aluminium foil. Even though it tasted good, the base and filling got mixed up, most of the filling ended in the foil and the final cheesecake was a disaster.
But during my second attempt, I didn’t bake the base, so the layers stayed intact and the textures of each layer was retained. And it turned out to be one of the best cheesecakes I have done so far.
I purchased kataif pastry from a wholesaler, so no recipe for it included. You could try Big Basket or Nilgiris for the pastry. Or you could try fine vermicelli as some one suggested online. I will also try to upload homemade kataif soon. It is quite an elaborate work, so you need so much patience if making at home.
Roasting kataif is really important. You need to use low flame so that you don’t burn the pastry before it crisps up. Use ghee to roast so that it has a good flavour in the final dish.
I have stored my pastry in freezer, so when it thawed, it was so soft like idiyappam. So it took a long time to loose the water content and crisp up. You can even spread the pastry on a baking tray and roast it at 150C in OTG or Convection. Keep checking and stirring it up often so that it browns evenly.
The base is supposed to be crumbly and crispy, so I haven’t added any binding agent. Make sure to press it well to make it nice and compact so that it is easier when you slice the cake.
Make your own cream cheese for the cheesecake
Usually cream cheese is quite expensive. So I always make it at home. You just need two ingredients to make the creamiest cheese which sets well in a cheesecake. Click on the image above for the recipe.
The filling is quite easy to put together and I have flavoured it with rose essence. Don’t add too much essence as rose tends to get bitter. Be careful while adding. Do not whip the mix because we don’t want to aerate the mixture. Use a spatula to gently fold in everything.
Making the Pistachio Cream for the Eggless Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake
For the pistachio cream, use a mixer grinder as my small processor couldn’t handle the effort. Mixie made the grinding so much easier. It also gets hot so fast. So stop the mixie and run it at intervals. Adding the chocolate will make it easier to manipulate the consistency.
As we need the kataif to remain crunchy, I have used only chocolate. If you add any liquid, the pastry will absorb the liquid and become softer while resting. So you will miss out on the crunch.
If you add a bit of salt, this cream also makes a wonderful spread for toasts. Add as much cream as possible to make the kataif a spreadable mixture. The chocolate will help retain the crispness of the pastry.
While spreading the kataif mix on top of the cheesecake, be gentle. As the cheesecake mix hasn’t set, the kataif might easily damage the top of the cheesecake. Use a spatula and spread it out gently.
Allowing the cheesecake to set for minimum eight hours will ensure that the slices won’t collapse while cutting. Cover the cheesecake with cling film and refrigerate so that the top doesn’t dry out.
I also made a detailed video on how to make this cheesecake. If you love learning through videos, do not miss it out.
And thanks for reading this post patiently so far. Have a virtual slice of the cheesecake. Cheers!
Eggless Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the base
- 125 g Roasted Kataif Pastry
- 1 tsp ghee
- 15 gm pistachios slivered
- 20 g Butter
- 50 g Sugar
For the Cheesecake Layer
- 300 g Cream cheese
- 200 ml Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Rose Essence
- 100 ml Amul Fresh Cream
For the Chocolate Kataif Layer
- 125 g Roasted Kataif
- Pistachio Cream – as much as needed
Pistachio Cream:
- 200 g Pistachios
- 200 g White Chocolate
Topping
- 50 g Dark Chocolate
- 50 ml Amul Low Fat Cream
- Slivered Pistachios
Instructions
Base:
- Roast the kataif for base with a tsp of ghee until golden.
- Add sugar, melted butter and pistachios and mix well.
- Transfer to a 7” loose bottomed tin and press the kataif mix well until compact.
Cheesecake Layer:
- Preheat oven to 150C.
- Beat cream cheese until soft.
- Add sweetened condensed milk and rose essence and beat well.
- Add cream and mix together.
- Pour this mixture over the base.
- Place the tin inside a larger tin and add water in the larger tin.
- Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 45 minutes.
- Open the door of oven and let the cheesecake cool completely.
The Pistachio Khataif Layer:
- Melt white chocolate and keep it aside.
- In a mixer, take pistachios and grind until it starts forming paste.
- Add the white chocolate and grind until it forms a paste.
- Add this paste to the roasted kataif and mix well. Adjust the pistachio cream as needed to get a spreadable kataif.
- Transfer this on top of the baked cheesecake and spread it evenly with a spatula.
The Chocolate Topping:
- Melt chocolate in a bowl.
- Add hot cream to it and mix well.
- Pour this on top of the Kataif layer and spread it evenly.
- Add slivered pistachios on the sides.
- Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, remove the cheesecake from fridge and slice it into 8 equal wedges using a warm sharp knife.
