Learn how to make the best coffee cheesecake with this easy recipe. This baked cheesecake is made with a baked Oreo crust, and the filling is flavoured like Turkish coffee with a combination of espresso powder, cardamom, and vanilla bean paste. I suggest baking this cheesecake in a water bath to make the smoothest cheesecake without cracks!
This is a simple variation of my classic baked vanilla cheesecake recipe, which I also turned into a pumpkin cheesecake (featured in the All About Pumpkin bundle). I made both of those with a graham cracker crust.
I love all cheesecakes, but this coffee-flavoured cheesecake with an Oreo cookie crust might be my all-time favourite flavour. The taste reminds me of the most luxurious coffee-flavoured Greek yogurt (the expensive kind), flavoured with espresso powder and ground cardamom for a play on Turkish coffee. I have explored this flavour combination in the past with these coffee cardamom buns.
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Ingredients To Make A Coffee-Flavoured Cheesecake
The beauty of any cheesecake is that the base is always the same, made from simple ingredients, to which concentrated flavours are added to transform the recipe. Here's what you need:
- Oreo cookies—we are using whole Oreo cookies (the regular kind) for the crust because chocolate wafers were discontinued
- butter—I used melted unsalted butter for the crust. If using salted, omit the salt in the crust
- cream cheese—use blocks of full-fat cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia brand. In Canada, each block weighs 250 grams, and this recipe calls for four blocks or 1 kg of cream cheese. Do not use low-fat, whipped or spreadable cream cheese!
- sugar—I used white granulated sugar for the crust and filling to ensure the sugar doesn't interfere with the flavour of the cheesecake filling
- eggs—I bake with large eggs. Don't use smaller or extra large eggs as this may impact the texture of the filling
- salt—I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt in all my recipes. If using regular table salt, add half the amount.
- espresso powder—use instant espresso powder (I like Nescafé gold espresso powder) for a strong, rich coffee flavour
- cardamom—use either freshly ground cardamom or pre-ground cardamom, but make sure it is fresh. Please don't use old cardamom that has been sitting in your spice drawer for 3 years!
- vanilla—you can use either vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (same quantity)
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
This is a straightforward recipe for a Turkish coffee-flavoured cheesecake. Here are a few ways you can change it:
- Sour cream variation: Some people like to add sour cream to their cheesecake fillings for more tang. Replace one block (250 grams) of cream cheese with 1 cup (250 mL) of sour cream or, alternatively, you can add a cup of sour cream to this recipe and increase the number of eggs to 5 large eggs instead of 4. Either way works!
- Cookie crumb alternatives: you can either make an Oreo crust made from whole Oreo cookies (as mentioned in the recipe card) or this graham cracker crust recipe with either graham crackers, social tea biscuits, speculoos cookies, or chocolate wafers (if you still have access to them).
- Gluten-free—use gluten-free Oreos for the crust if you'd like to make a gluten-free cheesecake.
With any substitutions, you may have to adjust baking times and do further testing.
Instructions
To make a cheesecake from scratch, first bake the crust, as shown in this recipe for Oreo cookie crust, and then mix the filling and bake the cheesecake in a water bath. Here's how to make this coffee cardamom cheesecake:
Step 1—Step 4—While the crust is baking and cooling, mix the filling by combining the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (image 1) and mixing it until smooth before mixing in the sugar (image 2), followed by the espresso powder, cardamom, and vanilla bean paste (image 3). Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition (image 4).
Step 2—Your coffee cheesecake filling should be smooth, glossy, and rather liquid after adding all the eggs (image 5). I like to pass it through a strainer with the help of a whisk to remove any lumps (image 6). Despite looking smooth, you can see what I strained out of the filling in image 7.
Step 3—Transfer the cheesecake filling to the baked crust. Place the cheesecake pan (which you've wrapped in 3 layers of foil to prevent any moisture from getting in) in a deep roasting pan and pour boiling water to come up halfway (image 8). Bake until set with a slight jiggle in the middle (image 9).
I like to leave my cheesecakes in the oven to cool for 2 hours. Once baked, I immediately turn the oven off, open the oven door just a little (hold it open with the handle of a wooden spoon, for example), and leave it there untouched for 2 hours. At that point, the oven will be at room temperature, and the cheesecake will be too (or very close to room temperature).
I like to run a thin pairing knife around the edge to make sure the cheesecake has released from the sides. I reuse one layer of the foil from the bottom of the pan to cover the cheesecake in the fridge.
Tip: I like to decorate this cheesecake with lightly sweetened whipped cream, piping little rosettes along the border with a 1M tip (or an equivalent 11-mm star tip), garnishing each rose with a chocolate-covered coffee bean and dusting the top with a tiny amount of cardamom.
Storage
Store the cheesecake in the fridge. You can also freeze cheesecake, ungarnished, for up to a month. Unmould it and set it on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Freeze it solid in the freezer, then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil.
To defrost the cheesecake, unwrap the frozen cheesecake, set it on your serving plate and leave it in the refrigerator overnight to slowly defrost before serving.
Top Tip
I always bake my cheesecakes in a water bath. The water prevents the edges from over-baking and allows the cheesecake to bake slowly, flat and evenly. Using a water bath, the cheesecake doesn't crack when it cools.
Serving Suggestions
I like to garnish this coffee cheesecake with whipped cream, but you can also serve it with salted caramel sauce!
Other Cheesecake Recipes
Looking for other cheesecake recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this recipe for coffee cheesecake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Coffee Cheesecake
Equipment
Ingredients
Baked Graham Cracker Crust For 9-inch Cheesecakes
- 190 grams Oreo cookies about 16 cookies
- 0.625 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 58 grams unsalted butter melted
Coffee Cheesecake Filling
- 1 kg Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular) use the block kind (see note), softened
- 250 grams granulated sugar
- 45 mL instant espresso powder
- 15 mL vanilla bean paste
- 5 mL ground cardamom more or less depending on taste
- 4 large egg(s)
- boiling water to create the water bath in the roasting pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Boil a full kettle of water (1.75–2 L).
- In a food processor bowl fitted with the metal S-blade, combine the Oreo cookies and salt. Pulse them together until you end up with a find crumb.
- Pour the melted over top and pulse the mixture again until all the ingredients are moistened and the mixture begins to clump.
- Transfer the crust mixture to your prepared pan and spread it out from edge to edge in an even layer, flattening and pressing it out with a flat-bottomed glass to create a smooth, tight crust.
- Bake the crust until the edges just begin to brown (10–15 minutes). Take out of the oven and let cool.
- Drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C).
- Wrap the outside of the cheesecake pan in three layers of foil so that it is well protected.
- Prepare the cheesecake filling by creaming the blocks of cream cheese together until smooth and creamy, then mix in the sugar, espresso powder, vanilla bean paste, and
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, only adding the next egg when the previous one has been completely incorporated.
- Strain the filling to remove any lumps if necessary, then pour it over your cheesecake crust.
- Place the foil-wrapped cheesecake pan in the roasting pan and pour water in the roasting pan (making sure to avoid splashing the cheesecake filling!). Fill with enough water to come halfway up the cheesecake pan.
- Place the roasting pan in the oven, carefully, and bake the cheesecake until set but the centre remains a little jiggly (this takes about 75 minutes for me).
- Turn the oven off when the cheesecake is done baking and prop the oven door slightly to allow the oven to slowly cool down. Leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door propped open for about 2 hours to cool completely.
- Take the cheesecake out of the water bath and transfer it to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, if not overnight, before slicing and serving.
Notes
- For the crust, I use whole Oreos (filling and all) because Nabisco and Mr. Christie chocolate wafers have been discontinued. If you prefer, you can make a graham cracker crumb crust or if you still have access to chocolate wafers, you can also use the graham crust recipe (you can use most dry cookies/biscuits for the crumbs for the graham cracker crust recipe, like speculoos cookies, chocolate wafer crumbs (Oreo crumbs), or even social tea biscuits).
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
- For the cream cheese, use full-fat cream cheese sold in block form. Do not use whipped, light, or spreadable cream cheese as these products may have more water or fat.
- You can flavour the cheesecake filling with vanilla bean paste (preferred) or vanilla extract. You could also scrape a vanilla bean (or half a large bean) and add that to the filling instead.
- For the cardamom, use freshly ground green cardamom (as finely ground as you can in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle). Or buy ground cardamom. Make sure it is fresh. For the best flavour, buy new spices. Don't use old spices!
- Use a water bath made from a roasting pan and boiling water to bake the cheesecake. Make sure to wrap the springform pan in three layers of aluminum foil to prevent water from seeping into the pan and to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Alternatively, you could use a 9-inch round cake pan with 3-inch sides, making sure to line the bottom with parchment paper. You will have to flip the cheesecake onto a parchment paper-lined board, upside-down, to get it out of the pan, which may ruin the smooth finish on top.
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