Carole’s Cheesecake’s caramel brownie cheesecake, $7.99 per slice
Bring some hungry allies to help you conquer this substantial beast. Cakey brownies dotted with toffee nuggets and laced with golden caramel line the perimeter. While the slice is topped with a thick blanket of dark chocolate ganache, the filling itself has a balanced sweetness. Whipping cream gives it an unabashedly rich, silky texture that melts on your tongue.
114 Cumberland, at Bellair, 416-849-1499, carolescheesecake.com, @CarolesChsCake
MoRoCo’s Get Cherried Away cheesecake, $12 per slice
This luscious cheesecake lives up to its name. Full-fat yogurt gives it body and a milder flavour. It’s like biting into a fluffy cloud – you could enjoy this on your own and not be reeling in a sugar coma afterwards. A trio of accompaniments let you mix and match flavours: whipped Valrhona white chocolate, bittersweet syrup-soaked amarena cherries and zippy coulis.
99 Yorkville, at Bellair, 416-962-2202, morocochocolat.com, @morocochocolat
Arepa Café’s dulce de leche cheesecake, $6.75 per slice
This Venezuelan-styled cheesecake, made offsite by Pimentón’s José Arato, is the most savoury on our list. The salt-kissed sides of the slice and pebbly almond base make for an addictive combination. Your tongue will love to wrestle with the velvety, house-made, taffy-textured dulce de leche. The squattest of the bunch, it’s nevertheless a lush cheesecake with a creamy filling that is dense yet light.
490 Queen West, at Denison, 416-362-4111, arepacafe.ca, @arepatoronto
Andrea’s Gerrard St. Bakery’s New York cherry cheesecake, $12 per mini-cakelet
This cheesecake is no wallflower. With a smooth, satiny filling, the brie-sized wheel has the most domineering tang of the bunch, thanks to locally sourced farmer’s cheese. The crunchy base is a pebbly mix of unsweetened dark cocoa and toasted almonds, a great textural counterpoint to all the soft pâté-esque filling. A mound of tart, ruby-red cherries helps cut through the richness.
635 Gerrard East, at Boulton, 416-465-4567, andreasbakery635.com, @Andreasbakery
Dufflet’s toffee apple cheesecake, $4.95 per slice
Orchard apples are given the ultimate treatment in this version. Crisp Cortland slices are dusted with cinnamon and fanned over the cake’s surface. Their flavour permeates the creamy, dense, custard-like filling, which sits on a soft shortbread base. The wedge is draped with oozy homemade French caramel and topped with sugared hazelnuts. The intense sweetness of the topping is easily tamed by the filling.
787 Queen West, at Manning, and others, 416-504-2870, dufflet.com, @dufflet
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