Basque burnt cheesecake

Here is another Basque region inspired dessert to go along with the first recipe I posted on this blog, for Gâteau Basque. Last night, Mr. Chuckles put together this interesting variation of cheesecake, which is crustless and baked at high heat to create a ‘burnt’ exterior while maintaining a creamy interior.

It tastes like something in between a classic New York style cheesecake and the light, spongy Japanese style we have tried at Uncle Tetsu. Delicious.

Recipe

Adapted from Bon Appétit.

Servings: One 8-10 inch cake | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

Unsalted butter (for pan)
2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup all-purpose flour

Steps

1) Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 400 F. Butter a springform pan, then line with 2 overlapping 16×12 inch sheets of parchment, making sure parchment comes at least 2 inches above top of pan on all sides. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet.

2) Beat cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed, scraping down sides of the bowl, until very smooth and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.

3) Increase speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating each egg 15 seconds before adding the next. Scrape down sides of bowl, then reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Add cream, salt, and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

4) Turn off mixer and sift flour evenly over cream cheese mixture. Beat on low speed until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue to beat until batter is very smooth and silky, about 10 seconds.

5) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cheesecake until deeply golden brown on top and jiggly in the centre, about 60 minutes.

6) Let cake cool slightly (it will fall drastically as it cools), then unmold. Let cool completely. Carefully peel away parchment from sides of cheesecake.

7) Slice into wedges and serve at room temperature.

👨‍🍳 Notes from Mr. Chuckles

This one turned out quite well. The only tricky bit was the plating. You may need to play around with the parchment paper to ensure that it comes off the cake smoothly, to avoid awkward looking folded layers. Not a huge deal because the cake will still taste excellent!