Basque Burnt Cheesecake

I’ve been cooking a lot without writing on my blog…

As I’ve realised I forgot what recipes/combination/modification of recipes I’ve used for all my yummy creations, I think the least I should do is record it on my blog so I don’t forget when I want to re-create it!

The latest creation is the famous Basque burnt cheesecake originating from a Spanish chef three decades ago. I was craving it since 2019, when I saw it in a restaurant in Seoul, and was reminded again during lockdown period when people were on baking frenzies.

My boyfriend and I had leftover cream cheese and cream (after baking another chocolate cheesecake for his birthday… recipe to come!), so we set off to make this! And we were thoroughly impressed: the taste grows on you over time, and because it’s less cloyingly sweet and more light, souffle-y, and custard-like than regular NY cheesecake, it is incredibly addictive. You’ve been warned!

I used generous amounts of Heilala vanilla paste; I always believe that that this kind of luxury is worth it when you’re baking for yourself, and that’s what sets the recipe apart from cakes you buy outside that will be stingy with premium ingredients (that is charging $50+ for a smaller cake anyway!)! See the beautiful specks in the picture? That’s my usual measure of the quality of the vanilla cream custard in bakeries 🙂

I was inspired by Bon Appetit’s recipe with a few modifications to reduce sugar, salt and increase vanilla. I reduced oven heat towards the end, as I noticed it was getting very black and I wanted to save myself from too much carbon (for health’s sake), and used cake flour instead of regular for a finer texture (and well, the only one my boyfriend’s house had!).

Yields a 10″ cake

900g cream cheese, room temperature

1¼ cups sugar

6 large eggs

2 cups heavy cream

½ tsp salt

3 tsp vanilla bean paste

⅓ cup cake flour

Sherry or a drinking sweet liqueuer like sake (for serving)

Preparation

1. Place a rack in the middle of oven, preheat to 200°C.
2. Line a 10″ springform pan with 2 overlapping sheets of parchment, making sure paper will reach the top of all sides of the pan
3. Beat cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with a mixer on medium-low speed, scraping down sides, for 2 minutes.
4. Increase speed to medium, add eggs one at a time with 15 seconds for each egg. Scrape down sides of bowl and reduce mixer to medium-low.
5. Add cream, salt, and vanilla bean paste, beat until combined for 30 seconds.
6. Turn off mixer and sift flour with fine sieve over cream cheese mixture.
7. Beat on low speed until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl, and continue to beat until batter is smooth, homogenous, and silky, for about 10 seconds.
8. Pour batter into springform pan.
9. Bake cheescake until deep dark golden brown on top and still jiggly in the centre, for about 60 minutes (suggest to reduce the heat to 150°C for the last 20 minutes if you notice the cake is getting very dark already).
10. Remove from oven. Let cake cool slightly, then unmould from sides of pan.
11. Let it cool completely, then peel away baking paper from sides.
12. Slice into wedges and serve at room temperature with a glass of liqueuer.