Smoked Pecan Cheesecake from Dallah Bakery

Have I told you before that I’m not a cheesecake person?

I’m not. I’m not the kind of person who’d go gaga over a picture of slice of cheesecake. I’m not really a fan of the dense cheesy heavy centre sandwiched between a crunchy crust and a liquid topping. If there is nothing else on the table I’d eat a forkful or two just fine, but I wouldn’t necessary lose sleep craving cheesecakes and wishing I had a slice or two to wolf down. I can live without cheesecakes.

Therefore, when Dallah’s bakery informed me there was a cheesecake on the way going to be knocking my door, I was excited not for the cheesecake itself but for the topping: smoked pecan caramel! How awesome, how fall like! I began imagining gorgeous orange fall leaves and I felt a warmth spread to my very fingers, like I was sitting at an open fire roasting pecans and drenching them with genuine maple syrup, don’t ask me why I can get myself in a state just like that. It is because of the smoked pecan topping that I’ve decided to cut myself a sliver of the cheesecake, and its because of that sliver of cheesecake that I attacked several other slices of cheesecake and knew exactly how I wanted to photograph Dallah’s newest smoked pecan dilemma.

Hence why all my pictures come with wisps of smoke swirling around them. I have to admit it was fun trying to get a decent photograph with unpredictable puffs of smoke blowing every which way, including my eyes and face. I have to also admit that I’m in big trouble, for that cheesecake is nothing like any other cheesecake I’ve tried in Kuwait before on each and every layer and I’m talking on each and every layer.

Starting with the base, it was crumbly and biscuity and quite nutty. I keep having forkfuls of the base alone, which I usually discard, and I keep trying to figure out what is in that base exactly. I can tell you now -after several slices too many- that there are definitely walnuts in there. The crust is almost like a baked Kuwaiti biscuit on its own and it complements the entire cake perfectly! Good job guys!

Moving upwards, lets go to the bane of the cheesecake’s existence, the cheesy filling. I have my doubts regarding this layer, if I hadn’t known any better I’d say the cheese layer is actually cheese-less but its not. Its perfect! Fluffy, velvety, surprisingly light as air, not so sweet, and thanks be to god not that cheesy or dense! Do you remember in Friends when Rachel and Chandler began stealing cheesecakes from the neighbours? This particular cheesecake comes as close as what my imagination of what that stolen cheesecake must have tasted like. I personally would steal that cheesecake from the neighbours if I’ve stumbled upon it on their doorstep and feel no shame.

Last but not least, the smokey pecan caramel topping! Now between the layer of caramel and cheese there are bits and pieces of pecan hiding and therefore even though the last layer looks so smooth and innocent you will still get a surprising crunch as you are chewing away! Again the sauce is so rich and delicious but not overly sweet or heavy and it works, with the entire hoopla that is this cake it fits in just fine! The smokiness in the praline is very subtle it can go unnoticed if you didn’t know it was smoked but if you do, you will recognise it in a good peculiar what is that different thing I’m tasting kind of taste.

My dear friends at Dallah, you’ve outdone yourselves this time! They’ve been busy churning out one delicious new dessert after the other and I hope because it is what I think it is because they’ve posted a picture of what I think it is  I love it when a small business works hard until the fruit of their labour blossom into something bigger. You could always tell apart the passionate businesses aiming to leave a mark from the harried ones aiming only for a quick fils or two. Excellent cake Dallah, thank you and keep up the good work

One final note regarding the cake, it sells out fast so to order it you must do so in advance. For more information and orders you can pass by their store in Kaifan Co-op, call them on 99989824, email them on DallahKuwait@yahoo.com, follow them on Twitter on (@Dallah), or follow them and their delicious pictures on Instagram on (@DallahKuwait).