I usually march to the beat of my own drummer, but the crush of interest in recipes for Burnt Basque Cheesecake has piqued my interest.
It turns out that Burnt Basque Cheesecake originated in the 1990s as a Tarta de Queso at La Vina Restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain. The quirky cheesecake eventually caught the attention of several top chefs in the United States and The New York Times’ Kim Severson named the cheesecake “the taste of the year” in 2020. Interest in the cheesecake exploded.
So, what’s so special?
A Basque Cheesecake is a crustless cheesecake baked at a high temperature (400 degrees F.!). The high temperature bake produces a tall cheesecake with a deeply caramelized exterior that appears burnt but tastes divine.
I decided to give it a go. It is a really easy recipe. The reviews for the cake were effusive. And, who passes up an opportunity to enjoy a cheesecake? (Not moi.)
You’ll find a lot of recipes for Burnt Basque Cheesecake on the Internet. The recipe I used was from Bon Appetit here. Bon Appetit suggests you enjoy this cheesecake with a glass of sherry. Why not?
Burnt Basque Cheesecake
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter (for pan)
- 2 lb. cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 1 1/2 C. sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 C. heavy cream
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1/3 C. all-purpose flour (sifted)
- Sherry
Directions
- Step 1 Butter a 10 inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line the springform pan with two strips of parchment paper. The edge of the parchment paper should come about 2 inches above the edge of the pan because the cheesecake will rise quite a bit.
- Step 2 Beat the cream cheese and the sugar together until smooth. You want the sugar to dissolve.
- Step 3 Beat the eggs into the cream cheese mixture one at a time, scraping the sides of the pan after the addition of each egg. Each egg should be beaten in the batter for about 15 seconds to aerate the mixture.
- Step 4 Lower the speed of the mixer to medium low and add the cream, salt and vanilla. (I used vanilla paste.) Mix for about 30 seconds.
- Step 5 Sift the flour into the batter and mix. Scrape down the sides of the pan and continue to mix for about 10 seconds until you have a uniformly smooth batter.
- Step 6 Pour the batter carefully into the prepared springform pan.
- Step 7 Bake the cheesecake for 60 to 65 minutes in your preheated oven.Don’t panic when you look at your cheesecake. It will be a deep golden brown on the top.
- Step 8 Let the cheesecake cool a bit before un-molding it. Serve at room temperature.
If this Basque Cheesecake intrigues you, you might want to compare it to a traditional American cheesecake. Blue Cayenne has a recipe for an extraordinary (not a word I use often) cheesecake here.
