Basque Cheesecake Recipe: 4 Tips for Making the Dessert
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 8, 2024 • 3 min read
Born in a resort town in Spain, Basque cheesecake is a rich, gooey dessert that differs in texture and taste from New York cheesecake.
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What Is Basque Cheesecake?
Unlike classic New York cheesecake, Burnt Basque cheesecake isn’t smooth or dense; instead, the dessert—baked at a high temperature—is light and scorched and caramelized on the top with a rich, gooey interior. Made with cream cheese, sugar, and eggs, Basque cheesecakes don’t have a crust, giving it a similar feel to a mousse. Its outer edges are typically wrinkled and nonuniform, thanks to cooking the cheesecake in parchment paper.
The dessert originates from La Viña, a cafe in the resort town of San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain. In 1990, Chef Santiago Rivera embarked on an experiment to make a new type of cake every day. Eventually, he developed the Basque cheesecake recipe.
Basque Cheesecake vs. New York Cheesecake
While the cheesecakes both include cream cheese, there are a few differences between the two, including:
- Crust: A graham cracker crust encases the classic cheesecake found in the United States. The Basque cheesecake does not have a crust.
- Appearance: New York cheesecake looks neat and smooth on a plate. Meanwhile, the Basque counterpart is irregular, rough, and charred, with a dark brown color. The torched outside resembles a crème brulée.
- Texture: Basque-style cheesecake is airy and light, akin to a soufflé or mousse. Classic cheesecake is dense and creamy.
4 Tips for Making Basque Cheesecake
Basque cheese is perfect for customization. You can change the taste or texture slightly by serving it chilled, at room temperature, or still warm. You can also add lemon zest, vanilla, or other flavors. Here are four tips for making the dessert:
- 1. Use a heated knife. With a heated serrated knife, cut your cheesecake. Dip the blade in hot water after every cut or when the cheesecake starts to cling to the knife.
- 2. Line springform cake pan with parchment paper. Use two sheets of parchment paper, ensuring it sticks up at least two inches overthe top of the pan’s sides with no overhang down the sides. Doing this prevents the cheesecake batter from overflowing while baking.
- 3. Bring ingredients to room temperature. You should do this for all ingredients, but especially your cream cheese, which may clump if it’s too cold. Room-temperature ingredients will make everything easier to mix.
- 4. Don’t overbake your cheesecake. Pull it out of the oven when it still has a bit of wobble to prevent the filling from curdling and developing an unpleasant texture.
Basque Cheesecake Recipe
makes
10-inch cheesecakeprep time
20 mintotal time
85 mincook time
65 minIngredients
Note: The total time does not include cooling time.
- 1
Preheat your oven to 400° F and prepare your 10-inch pan. First grease the sides of the pan with unsalted butter, then line it with two sheets of parchment paper. The paper should overlap to form a double thickness. You'll have to wrinkle and crease the parchment paper to make it fit into the round pan, which creates the irregular shape of a Basque cheesecake.
- 2
In the large bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar at medium-low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat for about 2 minutes, until you smooth out all lumps.
- 3
Add the eggs, one at a time, while beating at medium speed and wait 15 seconds before adding each egg. Beat another 10 seconds or so, until the batter is creamy and silky.
- 4
Add the heavy cream, kosher salt, and vanilla extract. Beat at medium-low for another 30 seconds.
- 5
Sift the all-purpose flour over the cream cheese mixture, then beat at low for about 30 seconds and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Stop beating when the batter is very smooth.
- 6
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, until the cheesecake is deep brown on top. Pull it out of the oven while still a bit jiggly in the middle.
- 7
Let the cheesecake cool slightly before removing the sides of the springform pan. It will fall quite a bit as it cools. Take the pan sides off, then let the cake cool completely. Peel away the parchment paper only after the cheesecake has reached room temp. It's okay to make this cheesecake ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight, but take it out of the refrigerator several hours before you plan to serve it.
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