Who could say no to a dessert of caramel, marshmallow and chocolate. These are all the elements that make up this cheesecake inspired dessert, bringing what we love about the iconic Pinky Bar to the celebration table.
So what is this Pinky Pie exactly? Simple, it’s a delicious dessert that starts with a soft pink marshmallow, which sits on top of a caramel cheesecake layer and is crusted with Oreo goodness. Now, much like the Pinky Bar itself, the marshmallow is the star, so it sits on top and demands full attention. So feel free to get creative with how you decorate and don’t forget to share your photos and tag me on either Facebook or Instagram.
What kind of caramel do I need to use?
For this caramel filling you want to use a thick caramel, for example a dulce de leche or in New Zealand you can use the Nestle Highlander caramel filling. Both these types of caramel are good to use as they are quite solid and firm up well in the fridge. A caramel sauce will not work and may leave your filling too loose and at risk of not setting in the fridge. The reason for the thicker caramel is so that the cheesecake filling will easily hold up without having to use gelatine to set. Win, win!
- 370g Oreo Biscuits
- 120g Butter – Melted
- 375g Cream Cheese – Full Fat
- 300g Caramel Filling or Dulce De Leche
- 100ml Cream
- ½ Tablespoon Gelatine
- 200g Caster Sugar
- 125ml Boiling Water
- ½ Teaspoon Raspberry Essence
- Pink Food Colouring
- Freeze Dried or Fresh Raspberries (Optional)
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First you'll need to line the base and spray the sides of a 20cm springform cake tin and set aside.
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Blitz the oreo biscuits with a food processor until they resemble a fine crumb. Melt the butter and add this to the food processor and biscuit crumbs. Give one final blitz to incorporate.
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Pour crumb into prepared tin and firmy and evenly press around the bottom and sides of prepared baking tin. I suggest using a straight edged tumbler to press crumb firmly around the sides to get a nice even crust. Once satisfied, place in the fridge to set while you make the caramel filling.
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Add the cream cheese to a large bowl and beat until smooth. Note: if you remove the cream cheese from the fridge slightly ahead of time, it can beat better when it's slightly more room temperature.
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Add the caramel or dulce de leche to the cream cheese and beat through until smooth and incorporated.
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Finally pour in the cream and beat through for about 10 minutes. This will help aerate and lighten your cheesecake filling.
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Pour filling into prepared base and allow to set overnight or for at least 4 hours.
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Once the cheesecake is set, it's time to make the marshmallow by adding the boiling water and gelatine to a large bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add sugar, raspberry essence and a few drops of colouring, then beat with a hand-held beater on high for 10 minutes until thick, fluffy and sugar has dissolved.
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Cover the top of your cheesecake with fluffy marshmallow and place back in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving. If you'd like to pipe your marshmallow, gently spread a thin layer of the marshmallow over top of the cheesecake to help the blobs stick, then using a wide round nozzle and piping bag, blob or decorate as desired. Optional: Add and decorate top of marshmallow with freeze dried or fresh raspberries. Enjoy.
IF YOU LOVE THIS PINKY INSPIRED RECIPE, YOU MIGHT LOVE THIS PINKY SQUARE RECIPE BELOW:
Will give it a whirl!..stated above pour cream into cream cheese and dulce ..standard cream ok?or was thickened cream used? Thank you
Great stuff. Yes, for those living in New Zealand, when I refer to cream, it’s simple the regular fresh cream sold in our supermarkets. You can buy thickened cream here, but that’s not what I used. Hope that helps.
Oh no my filling didn’t set and I followed the recipe. What may have happened? Fkavourwise this is amazing
The ingredients are pretty minimal for this filling, but if you make sure to use a full fat cream cheese and a firm caramel like the Nestle Highlander caramel filling, this should set in the fridge. When I say ‘set’, the cheesecake element is still smooth and soft, but will hold its shape when served. Can I ask what kind of caramel you used?
Hi Dane. Do you use the entire Oreo biscuit or take out the white filling?
Hey Amy. Yes you use the whole biscuit, filling and all. The filling adds another delicious binding element 😉
Tried it out last night. What a fabulous recipe! The finished product looks beautiful and the marshmallow topping is genius! My 6 year old son wanted leftovers for breakfast! I’ll be looking for any excuse to make this show-stopper again. Thanks Dane! 😀
does this need to be kept in the fridge and served immediately? or will it be okay left out on the table?
Hi Sarah. Treat this dessert like any other cheesecake. So, it’s best kept in the fridge and brought out just before serving. It could be left out of the fridge for a short while, however the cheesecake filling may start to soften again. Hope that helps.
Hi I have followed recipe and used standard cream cheese and the highlander caramel tin but it’s still not setting. Has been in overnight. What can i do to set it?
Hi Kelsey, sorry this hasn’t worked out for you. The filling is intended to be quite smooth and soft, but still firm enough to cut when serving. Because of this (and with you using the correct cream cheese and caramel filling, which all solidify when refrigerated), the next ingredient that may change the consistency would be the cream. The aim of the cream is to loosen the filling a bit, but not too much. I have two suggestions, but I’d recommend this one first. Try chilling it in the freezer for a bit to see if you can get it to set, then if set, top with marshmallow and serve immediately. Second suggestion would be to remove filling and re-beat in some more cream cheese or caramel filling and try resetting it. Hope suggestion one works for you however. Good luck.
Just found this recipe and just had to try it! All worked perfectly apart from the marshmallow! Beat it with a hand held mixer, first lost I gave up after 25mins of beating on high. 2nd attempt looked much better but still didn’t thicken enough to pipe and be stiff enough to form peaks! I have made marshmallow before but not this way so decided to try it. I must say I probably won’t try it again, I’ll do it the way I know how lol but all in all the cheesecake tasted great!
Sorry the marshmallow didn’t work out for you Lisa. Perhaps a third try may be a charm, OR stick to what you know 😉
I made this to the recipe apart from subbed my favourite no bake chocolate cheesecake filling for the Caramel filling. The marshmallow worked perfectly- took approx 15 minutes for me.. also I tried freezing it with the marshmallow on and it was totally fine 🙂 fun idea that I will definitely try again
Super keen on trying this recipe but wondering if you could suggest an alternative base?
You could use any biscuit base you’d like. I went with Oreo because it was the easiest universal option which also gave me that nice dark contrasted colour.