Inspired by my favorite Latin drink, cafe con leche, this fluffy, layered cheesecake recipe is spiked with strong espresso and kahlua. A decadent, coffee cheesecake topped with a tart sour cream whipped cream.

I didn’t know what home tasted like until I went away to college. There are so many flavors and smells that we associate with different people and places in our life. The smell of Boursin cheese makes me think of my Aunt’s house in North Carolina and her many many area rugs (which are beautiful and I would love for my house now). The smell of bread and sausage reminds me of my grandmother cooking in her kitchen in Pensacola, making big batches of briolata. But home, with all of it’s flavors and smells, alluded me until fall of my freshman year of college.

I grew up in South Florida and moved a few hours north to Orlando to attend UCF many (but not too many) years ago. The first few months, my roommate and I were pretty homesick and utterly baffled at the lack of Latin pastries available to us. In South Florida, there are Latin bakeries on every corner. There is a Colombian bakery, a Venezuelan Bakery, at least two Cuban bakeries, and one catch-all Hispanic food spot within a five minute drive of my parent’s house. You can even. get empanadas and croquettes at your local Publix, so imagine our surprise when we discovered that not even Publix in this new, empanada-free land of Orlando was able to come to our rescue.

That winter, when I came home for Christmas break, empanadas and cafe con leches were number one on my list. The first morning home, my sister and I got up early and drove (across the street) to Panna, our favorite local gas station/car wash/Latin-pastry heaven. We loaded up with brown paper bags full of basically everything on the shelf and 4 giant cafe con leches balanced precariously in a flimsy beverage carrier. It was Christmas, I was home, and everything was right with the world. Even now, Panna is the first stop when we exit I-75 for my little taste of home.

About the recipe:

Cafe con Leche is coffee from the gods. It is strong espresso with lots of milk and usually a little sweetened condensed milk. This cheesecake is a super-fun two-tone guy, with an espresso paste stirred into a third of the batter and spooned on top. The cheesecake base itself uses whipped egg whites to make it extra light and creamy and the whole thing is topped with a sweetened whipped cream/sour cream mixture. The crust is made from Maria cookies, a very Hispanic treat similar to a graham cracker. If you can’t find Maria cookies, you can definitely sub in graham crackers or gingersnaps or any other cookie you love. It’s a beautiful cheesecake and has cemented itself as a favorite in our family.