Basque Burnt Cheesecake

Basque Burnt Cheesecake (巴斯克焦香乳酪蛋糕) is said to have originated in 1990 in San Sebastian, Spain. The original recipe only calls for five ingredients – cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, eggs, and flour. Why the Basque Burnt Cheese Cake is always called “burnt” cheesecake? it is due to its significant rich dark surface. You can always taste its texture with creamy in the middle, caramelized on the outside. Simply said, it has a good taste balance between the sweetness from the creamy cheese interior and the bitterness from the burnt exterior. Unlike the normal cheesecake, it does not have a crust. This Basque Burnt Cheese Cake is easy and simple to make since this is the cheesecake that wants to get burnt (with high temperature) and cracked. This also means that is the cheesecake with 99% successful possibility. I would recommend enjoying this burnt cheesecake with a glass of coffee or green tea.

Recipe Ingredients

The recipe simple calls for:

• Cream Cheese
• Heavy (Whipping) Cream (36 – 38% fat)
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Cake Flour
• Vanilla Extract

How to Bake the Basque Burnt Cheese Cake?

1. Place a tray in the middle of the oven, preheat to 220 degrees Celsius, pre-heat for 20 minutes.
2. Prepare a 5-inch (13 cm) cake mold, then line with a sheet of parchment (as shown in the video tutorial).
3. Bring the cream cheese to a large bowl and beat it for about 1 minute. Add in sugar and beat it for about 2 minutes.
4. Add in two eggs (add in one by one), beating 30 seconds for each.
5. Add in heavy cream and vanilla extract, beating 1 minute.
6. Add in cake flour and mix it evenly.
7. Pour batter into a prepared cake mold. Bake cheesecake for about 35 minutes.
8. Take the cake out from the oven and let it cold at room temperature for 2 – 3 hours. Put in the refrigerator overnight.

Tips to Bake A Good Basque Burnt Cheesecake

To Prepare the Ingredients

• Make sure all the ingredients (cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, and heavy cream) are at room temperature. This will help all the ingredients easy to mix up.
• For cream cheese, if you forgot to take out the cream cheese earlier; alternatively, you can microwave the cold cream cheese with half power for 30 seconds.
• Crack the eggs one by one instead of putting them all together.
• For the flour part, I used cake-flour because it has low-protein content than all-purpose flour. Because of the lower protein content, cake flour produces less gluten. Cake flour is a flour that is finer, lighter, and softer.
• I will add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract in this recipe, this is to eliminate the eggy-taste. Without the vanilla extract, the cakes tend to taste flat and bland.

To Mix the Ingredients

• Remember to mix the ingredients one by one. Blend everything completely and thoroughly before adding the next. This is to prevent creating lumps for the batter.

To Bake

In this recipe, the cheesecake will be baked at 220 Degree Celsius for about 30 – 35 minutes. During the baking process, you need always observe the color of the top surface. Due to the difference of every oven, the baking time might need to adjust. Sometimes you may have to give up on the color of the cheesecake, you should turn off the oven (if the top surface not turning dark after 30 – 35 minutes). Sometimes you need to reduce the oven temperature because your cakes burn too fast. Overbaked cheesecake will crack and the texture will be dry and gritty.

To Cool

After the baking process was done, take out the cake and put it at room temperature. Let the cheesecake rest, you can observe that the cake will sink down after you take it out from the oven. Believe me, this is normal! After 2 – 3 hours, the cake is already changed to room temperature and now you may put it in the refrigerator.

To Serve

You may serve it at room temperature for a softer texture. However, most of the people prefer to serve the cheesecake in cold. You might place your baked cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least three hours, but let me tell you, overnight is the best!