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Basque Cheesecake
Ingredients
Scrunch up baking / parchment paper in your hands. This makes it easier to press and stay in the pan as well as creating the signature rustic sides on the cheesecake.
Fit the paper into the cake pan. There’s no need to grease the pan to make the paper stick, just fit it in – the batter will weight it down. Press the paper into the corners of the pan and fold the sides down over the rim.
Don’t be tempted to try to make the cheesecake sides smooth by lining the cake pan the traditional way with flat strips of paper! The crumpled paper actually keeps the sides of the cheesecake from overcooking as it’s not fully pressed against the pan walls. Flat paper = thicker band of drier cheesecake. Tried and tested!
BASQUE CHEESECAKE BATTER
No tricky steps here! The method is designed specifically to achieve an incredible delicate, “mousse-like” texture that you get with the very best traditional Basque Cheesecakes.
Use a handheld electric beater or stand mixer with the paddle attachment. I personally prefer hand-held beater because the beating times are pretty short, and you can move it around which means less scraping down sides.
Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then beat in the sugar, just until incorporated.
Cream and flour – In a separate bowl, using a handheld whisk, whisk the flour with about 1/4 of the cream until it’s lump free. It will become paste-like. Don’t add too much cream at the beginning otherwise it’s impossible to whisk in the flour without lumps!
Then whisk in the remaining cream and vanilla. Just whisk until mixed in. We’re not making whipped cream here!
Pour the cream mixture into the cream cheese while beating on low speed.
Pour slowly whisked eggs into the mixture while beating on low speed. Stop beating as soon as the eggs are incorporated to minimise bubbles in the batter. This leads to unsightly blemishes on the cake surface! (Just visual, so not the end of the world).
Batter thickness – This is the thickness of the batter. Pourable but thick and silky!
BAKING AND COOLING
Bake until the surface is deeply caramelised but not burnt. The baking times will vary from oven to oven, but the inside will be the same light and airy whether it takes 45 minutes (my oven) or 65 minutes (JB’s oven). We checked this multiple times because we couldn’t believe our eyes!
Bubble popping – For a lovely blemish free surface, bang the pan on the counter to make bubbles rise to the surface. Then pop the bubbles with a small sharp knife. Repeat 2 or 3 times. This is for visuals only, it’s not a big deal!
Bake for 45 minutes in a hot 220°C / 425°F (200°C fan-forced), or until the surface is a deep golden brown. Keep a close eye on it for the last 15 minutes. There’s a fine line between “deeply caramelised” and “burnt”. Don’t fall on the wrong side of the line!
Bake time variations – With the many versions we tested, we found that the bake time can vary wildly between ovens. With most ovens, it takes 45 minutes. But in other ovens, it was taking as long as 65 minutes for the surface to become golden – and that’s ok! The inside will still be creamy. This was an incredible observation from the many versions we made. This cheesecake batter is extremely forgiving!