We sat down with Nico Norena, founder of The Succulent Bite and the king of over-the-top desserts, to get some insider baking tips and unique recipes.
What started as a passion project in college has evolved into a mouth-watering business for Norena, who has millions of followers and garners thousands of views on his seconds-long videos as part of The Succulent Bite brand. In 2015, Norena started the Instagram account @succulentbite to document his love for restaurants (especially their desserts) and photography. When the pandemic shuttered his culinary playground, Norena shifted his content strategy to at-home recipes and videos. He taught himself to bake, fine-tuning his skills with every hour of baking videos and tutorials he streamed. When the world was falling apart, he pivoted to bring joy into his followers’ homes, and he went all in—leaving his long-time pharmaceutical sales position to run The Succulent Bite full-time. Norena also started sharing a bit more of his personal life with his audience. These days, you can catch his wife, mom, and grandmother making cameos from time to time.
Norena has always had a sweet tooth. When he discovered cheesecake during a vacation to Miami (he was born in Chicago but spent most of his childhood living abroad in Colombia and Spain), he instantly fell in love with its creamy richness. So it makes sense that his appetite for baking truly shines when he creates his illustrious cheesecakes with sublime flavors like crème brûlée, Twix chocolate and Oreo triple chocolate. “A cheesecake is like a blank canvas; it allows me to be creative. You can create so many varieties and flavors. You can play with the crust, the topping, or the filling.”
His 30-second baking videos are no small feat—each takes about four days and almost 10 hours to create. “I particularly like filming sweets because it’s very soothing and satisfying—to see cake batter falling into a pan or a chocolate ganache being spread over a table before it gets tempered. Sweets, for me, are my flagship.”
“The best part of my job is that I get to do what I love every day, I get to entertain people, I get to connect with a lot of different human beings, and it allows me to spend quality time with my loved ones,” he adds.
Nico’s Baking Tips
- When baking a cheesecake, always mix the cream cheese at room temperature before adding the wet ingredients (like eggs). If you don’t, it will be impossible to get a smooth texture.
- Double check your oven temperature before putting your cake in. He suggests turning the oven off and restarting it immediately to see its temperature. Don’t expect it to rise properly if it’s not at the right temperature when you put it in.
- An automatic standing mixer is an investment worth making to save time and get an even mix.
Crème Brûlée Cheesecake recipe
Crust
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 12 whole crackers (I used 2 cups Stroopwaffle crust)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Ingredients
• 40 ounces cream cheese (at room temp)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (for brûlée)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
Preparation:
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Mix graham cracker crumbs and butter, then spread across evenly in springform cake pan. Bake for 12 minutes to create the bottom crust of cheesecake
• Let the pan cool and wrap outside with aluminum foil
• In a large bowl, whip cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy
• Add in eggs and heavy cream, mix until smooth and creamy
• Place baking pan with 2 inches of water in the oven to create a steam bath
• Pour cheesecake mix into the prepared crust and bake for 45 minutes
• Let cool completely and refrigerate overnight
• Cover with sugar and torch for the brulée
• Slice, serve and enjoy!
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