Basque cheesecake
San Sebastian Burnt Basque Cheesecake
If you like sweet and savoury flavours together, this one is for you. Burnt top, creamy centre and deeper cheese notes from the manchego or comte and parmesan. This version includes a baked biscuit base for better structure and cleaner slicing, but you can skip it for a more traditional crustless version.
Makes: 1 x 23–24 cm cake
Ingredients
For the base
250 g digestives
60 g butter, melted
For the cheesecake
400 g cream cheese
200 g mascarpone
75 g manchego or comte, finely grated
50 g parmesan, finely grated
225 g caster sugar
5 eggs
250 ml double cream
20 g cornflour
1 g salt
Method
1. Prepare the tin
Line a 23–24 cm springform tin with baking paper.
2. Make the base
Crush the digestives into fine crumbs and mix with melted butter. Press firmly into the tin.
Bake at 160 C fan for 10 minutes to keep the base crisp. Leave to cool.
3. Make the cheesecake batter
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Mix cream cheese and mascarpone until smooth. Add sugar and combine. Add eggs one at a time, mixing gently. Stir in cream, manchego, parmesan and salt. Mix in cornflour just until smooth. Do not overmix.
4. Fill the tin
Pour the batter over the baked base and tap the tin lightly to remove air bubbles.
5. Bake
Place the tin on a baking tray. Lay a sheet of foil on the tray, sit the tin on top, wrap the outside of the tin with a wet cloth, then loosely fold the foil around it.
Bake at 200 C fan for 30–35 minutes.
The top should be very dark brown.
The centre should still wobble. That wobble gives the creamy texture.
6. Cool and chill
Cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, to fully set.
If you are like me and prefer simple instructions without the extra fluff, here is an easy guide to follow.
Notes
Centre firm in the oven = overbaked
Pale top = oven too low
Lumpy batter = cheese too cold
Overmixing = cracks
Serving
Best served at cool room temperature.
Keeps in the fridge up to 3 days.
You can also freeze it! Thaw in the fridge where possible. If using a microwave, use very low power/defrost only and check frequently. If overheated, the centre can cook and turn grainy or curdled.